Mission & Vision
Mission
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents contemporary art from the Bay Area and around the world that reflects the profound issues and ideas of our time, expands the boundaries of artistic practice, and celebrates the diversity of human experience and expression.
Vision
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts aspires to be a center of creativity within the Bay Area; one that is recognized globally and locally for its dedication to artistic innovation, its imagination in the exploration of ideas and its sustained commitment to creatively engaging our community in the contemporary art experience. Inspired by living artists, we seek to create through them and with them a fully integrated center of artistic inquiry that embraces diverse aesthetics and ideas. We are courageous in pursuit of our aspirations, bold in carrying out our work and fearless in our commitment to place contemporary art at the heart of community life.
Core Values
The vitality of life in the Bay Area depends on our continued exposure to varied perspectives and beliefs. As well, our legacy depends upon our commitment to new art, ideas and means of expression. These are the sustaining principles of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which take form through:
Innovation and Risk
As a contemporary arts center, our highest value is innovation and the risk inherent in innovation. Like the artists we support, we are committed to continuously challenging our assumptions, trying new ideas and assessing their effectiveness as we adapt, adopt and move forward;
Diversity and Inclusion
We completely embrace the challenge of working with people from different backgrounds, with different life experiences and alternative points of view. Underlying our commitment to diversity is mutual trust, respect and an openness to other perspectives, even if it makes us uncomfortable at the moment;
Engagement and Interactivity
We value the engaged experience—vital interactions that create meaning and have an impact on the individuals involved. We approach every interaction with the intention that it be a consequential, even a transformative, experience;
Collaboration and Cooperation
We are committed to the collaborative process of creation. Through the complex and rewarding experience of working together, we strive to create what would not have been possible by acting alone;
Excellence and Rigor
Especially as we pursue innovation and experimentation, we demand rigor and professionalism in our work. We are steadfast in our desire to produce the best possible results with the resources available to us.