UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive

HistoryYerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) is a sprawling aromatic herb of the western United States. What is now San Francisco was originally named Yerba Buena by its Spanish settlers in the 18th century because of the abundance of the herb in the area. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) was developed as the result of years of community input and planning with scores of Northern California artists, as well as cultural, educational and civic leaders. From the ground up, YBCA was designed to embrace and celebrate a diversity of arts, cultures, and audiences. Created on the model of the European Kunsthalles, with no permanent art collection, YBCA bridges the seemingly contradictory worlds of pop culture, contemporary art, and community aesthetics. Each year over a quarter of a million people attend one of hundreds of YBCA exhibitions, performances, screenings and community enagement programs.SpecialtiesYerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is one of the nation's most innovative contemporary arts centers. Founded in 1993, YBCA's mission is to generate culture that moves people. We convene creative souls from all walks of life to instigate actions and spur movements that transform our cities and our lives. We are in constant conscious evolution, on the front lines of societal change.