Dogpatch Collective Offers Artists a Place to Work, Collaborate

The Dogpatch Collective is an 18-member artist cooperative located in an 8,000-square-foot section of the top floor of a mixed-use building at 1661 Tennessee Street. For 10 years, members have met at least monthly for artist talks and informal chats. 

“I secured the lease and commissioned the building of these studios in a suite of the building in 2016. I started this collective because I wanted an affordable studio of the right size. I also wanted to create community with other artists,” said Ellen Little, Dogpatch Collective founder. 

Dogpatch Collective comprises sculptors, sewers, mixed media artists, painters, writers, and photographers. According to Little, the studios’ advantages include their proximity to galleries and museums, 15-to-18-foot ceilings, good lighting, freight elevators, and shared loading docks. They rent for between $600 and $1,700 a month.

“I talked to a lot of other artists, in collectives at Hunters Point and on Minnesota Street. They gave me advice and ideas. Then I worked with an architect to draw up a plan. I designed a range of studios, large, small, with windows, and windowless. The contractor I hired built all of the studios within three months,” said Little. 

“People help one another out, as we have all had different trainings and experiences,” said Christina La Sala, a Hayes Valley-based Collective member. “Everybody brings a set of skills and perspectives. It’s very nice to work close to my peers.” 

Studio walls don’t connect with the building’s ceiling; all workshops share a common upper space.  As a result, creative activities can’t produce extreme noise, dust, or odors. Woodworking, metalworking, encaustic and oil painting aren’t allowed. Photographers can’t use strobe lights. 

“Collective members help out by wearing headphones. That way whatever small sounds someone might be making lessens the impact on other people. If I think what I do might make noise, I plan to do that activity when most people have gone home, like after 6 p.m.,” said La Sala. 

“We…give a monthly internal talk series. We invite members of our collective and a few artists in another space down the hall. We share wine and pizza and talk about our work,” said Little. 

Some Dogpatch Collective members participate in San Francisco Open Studios. Others show work only with galleries. 

Janine Wilburn, a Collective member who lives in the Outer Sunset, said people throughout the building treat each other with kindness and respect. Other tenants include LightSource, a fine art printing studio; The Gong Shop, a musical instrument store; Brickley Production Services, an equipment rental company for music and film-related businesses;  Little Boxes Theater, a black box dance theater, as well as a production studio, caterers, commercial kitchens, real estate home staging companies, and a wine shop. 

“I feel safe in our studios, the building, and the neighborhood. It’s a great place to show work,” said Wilburn.

Pat O’Connor, a Noe Valley resident and Collective member, likes that Dogpatch is lively and vibrant. She enjoys seeing rusted industrial factories being transformed into breweries and hangout spots. 

“I grew up in the Richmond District and remember this area from the 1960s and ‘70s. My family is Irish. I had an uncle who worked in the breweries surrounding and bordering Potrero Hill; Hamm’s and others,” said O’Connor.  “I like that everyone here seems to be generous with their space, time, and constructive ideas.” 

Quite a few Dogpatch Collective members work in mixed media. They take walks in Dogpatch and nearby neighborhoods to see what’s beyond their building’s doors. O’Connor sources bits of rusted metal, twine, and burnt cardboard she finds outdoors. She utilizes shipping boxes gifted to her from nearby retail stores and materials she buys at Center Hardware & Supply Co., Inc. 

La Sala uses rust and metal pieces she finds to dye patterns into fabric and paper. She purchases recycled building and landscape materials at Building Resources of San Francisco and often visits exhibits at the Museum of Craft and Design and the Letterform Archive, which is devoted to lettering and printing. 

Kathryn Page, a Collective member who lives near City College’s main campus, creates abstract works that relate to the natural world and underlying patterns, including wildfires and root systems. She’s a Golden State Valkyries season ticket holder and walks to Chase Center games to relax.

“There are so many resources here. We need more studios and more artist collectives. I get emails daily from artists looking for studios and it’s heartbreaking to tell them we don’t have space available. I hope more people will build studios and collectives,” said Little. 

In 2023 and 2024, Little and the other Collective members received a $50,000 First Time Grantee Initiative grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission. They used the funds to host six artists in two studios, one large and one small, for 18 months. 

“We gave these artists six months of free studio space and mentorship in the Collective’s space. The artists rotated in and out of their studios. We had to get a fiscal sponsor through a nonprofit to accomplish this,” said Little.  “This brought a whole different perspective into the Collective. We did a lot of mentorship and informal teaching, It drew us closer together.” 

Wilburn is grateful for her Dogpatch Collective studio. She said working there is a world of difference from being in an isolated home studio. 

“Dogpatch Collective is truly the space where I can do whatever I want. I’ve set up my studio here to evoke hope and joy. That’s the gift that creating art  and this space have been to me,” said Wilburn.