500 Capp Street’s mission is to encourage artistic experimentation, support new modes of living, and build community. 500 Capp Street holds the legacy of artist-driven spaces and Bay Area conceptualism through process-oriented and provocative arts programming.

Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, 500 Capp Street is a physical location rooted in conceptual art that was David Ireland’s home and artist studio and is also called The David Ireland House. It is a 360-degree portrait of one of the West Coast’s most important practitioners of conceptual and installation art and a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Foundation conducts artist-led public tours, presents a dynamic program of exhibitions and public events, maintains a permanent archive of the artist’s extant body of work, and hosts visiting artists locally and from around the world.

David Ireland was an artist with a diverse practice who viewed the making of art as a part of daily life. He blended sculpture, architecture, painting, and performance, and drew on ordinary materials such as dirt, concrete, wood, or wire that he collected.

Our tours, exhibitions, programs, and educational workshops enable artists, teachers, scholars, and participants to experiment and interpret art practices and ideas while becoming an integral part of the 500 Capp Street community. Our educational workshops challenge participants to explore what art can be, without limits and constructs.

The collection & archive includes 500 Capp Street, an environmental artwork, social sculpture, and residence; over 2,500 David Ireland art pieces, including painting, sculptures, prints, and ephemera of David Ireland’s work and performances. It also contains paper and ephemera of the Bay Area conceptual artists past and present, including extensive catalogs of artist-run spaces such as New Langton Arts and 65 Capp Street.

The curatorial practice is steeped in experimentation, artist-driven participation, and is process-oriented. It is collaborative, intergenerational, dynamic, and generous. It explores and challenges the boundaries of space, museology, artistic practice, material. It is comfortable reflecting on important questions relevant to critical inquiry.

500 Capp Street is not a museum or static historic home in the traditional sense. It is dynamic in its form and creation. It is a living sculpture.

500 Capp Street is pleased to announce the yearly open call for an Artist Residency. The 2025-2026 Artist Residency at 500 Capp Street will be an open call to international and U.S. based artists with generous multi-year support from the Sanger Family Foundation. International artists are extremely encouraged to apply.

This 2 month residency program at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco, CA will begin in the Spring of 2026 and end in Summer of 2026. Artists will have two months for research, which will culminate in a 2 month exhibition after the research period ends. This year’s program will highlight the conceptual, and urges artists to create work that pushes the boundaries of material and medium. We are especially interested in artists working with sculpture, and artists who support David Ireland’s artistic philosophies. The residency is intended to give creative space for developing an idea, and executing it for exhibition purposes. The Application process runs from August 11- September 30th, 2025. The next resident/s (solo, collaborative or collective) will be announced on the 20th of November 2025.

The selected artist(s) will use The House as their live or work studio, have access to The Paule Anglim Archive Room and David Ireland Archive (time capsules of Bay Area Conceptual Art from 1975-2009), and consult with curator Lian Ladia on their final project. The project will conclude with a final exhibition of work made during the residency, but during their time in the house research can include installations, interventions, and other types of public programming. The artist(s) will be supported throughout the residency and afterward by the staff and resources of The House, extending the impact of the program far beyond the two-month period. There will be a $5,000 travel stipend, a $2,500 honoraria for the individual or collective, and up to a $10,000 production budget. There is a $10 application fee.