Welcome to Edge on the Square, the contemporary art hub located at the heart of San Francisco Chinatown. Our year-round programming is designed to bring together creators and educators for a well-rounded cultural experience. Our space welcomes Asian American artists for our twice annual art exhibitions and our signature annual contemporary art festival, as well as music events and community gatherings that foster cultural exchange and understanding.
We are passionate about providing a platform for Asian American artists to showcase their work and we are proud to support local merchants in the process. Our goal is to inspire and engage visitors through our diverse range of events and programming. Come and explore Chinatown with us through art!
SF Urban Film Fest
Join us at Edge for a film screening and panel discussion led by Chinatown community and culture shapers. 800 Grant Avenue, San Francisco Chinatown.
As a part of the SF Urban Film Fest, Chinatown Rebels brings together three defiant gestures in film and television that challenge Chinatown's tourist gaze and stereotypes. Dupont Guy: The Schiz of Grant Ave (1976) by Curtis Choy and Bean Sprouts (1980) by Loni Ding reflect the anxieties and hope of 1970s’ Chinatown, grappling an increasingly multicultural and multinational San Francisco, while embodying the ambiguities of Chinese-ness, Chinese America, and Chinatown. Student film Fortune (2023) by Shirley Yumeng, offers an intimate glimpse into one of Chinatown's beloved Ross Alley; once emblematic of the bachelor society and its subversions, Ross Alley now stands as a testament to Chinatown's evolving identity.
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Corky Lee Book Talk & Panel
Saturday, May 18th | 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
800 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108
Edge presents Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice book event, celebrating the work of iconic late photographer Corky Lee with a conversation with Mae Ngai and Cathy Park Hong.
Corky Lee's Asian America traces Lee’s decades-long quest for photographic justice, following Asian American social movements for recognition and rights alongside his artistic development as an activist social photographer. Iconic photographs feature protests against police brutality in New York in the 1970s, a Sikh man draped in an American flag after 9/11, and a reenactment of the completion of the transcontinental railroad of 1869 featuring descendants of Chinese railroad workers, and his last photos of community life and struggle during the coronavirus pandemic.
Join us for a peek at the photographs and thoughtful dialogue from our panel of speakers.
Ronny Chieng Comedy Show Tickets
Get ready to laugh!
Edge will be auctioning tickets on our website from April 22 - 29 to Ronny Chieng's comedy performance at the Masonic in San Francisco on May 11 at 9:30 PM. This auction supports Edge's efforts to revitalize Chinatown through the arts. You won't want to miss it!
Ronny Chieng is a stand up comedian, actor and Correspondent on "The Daily Show". In addition to two Netflix stand-up comedy specials, Ronny has starred in "Crazy Rich Asians", Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "Joy Ride" and will star in the upcoming Hulu series "Interior Chinatown".
Thank you for supporting the performing arts and Chinatown.
Our Theory of Change
Edge shifts the dominant narrative of the immigrant experience by:
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Expanding knowledge and awareness of a “critical” immigrant story
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Being a strong voice for immigrants with an uplifting narrative
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Being the touchstone that holds the brand and a welcoming space to spark dialogues
Edge will become a sustainable socio-economic engine for Chinatown by:
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Providing stellar programs that motivate the public to visit, explore, and experience Chinatown
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Engaging with communities to build relationships and networks that amplify our collective voice and power
Edge widens the aperture of the human experience through:
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Empowerment, creativity, and optimism
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Sharpening tools to initiate and engage in meaningful discourse, build self-awareness, exercise agency, and activate social transformation
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Promoting attitudes of inclusivity, cultural curiosity, constructive exchange
Land Acknowledgement
Edge on the Square, situated in the vibrant heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, stands at the crossroads of history and culture. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we stand is the ancestral and unceded lands of the Ramaytush Ohlone People who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. We recognize the historic discrimination and violence inflicted upon Indigenous peoples in California and the Americas. We also recognize the historical significance of this land to the diverse Chinese immigrant communities who have contributed to the rich cultural tapestry of San Francisco. We offer our deepest respect to the Ramaytush Ohlone as first peoples and express gratitude to the generations of Chinese Americans who have made this community thrive.
