San Francisco, CA

THE LAB SF

EIN 94-2952488

Arts, Culture & Heritage Support for Working Artists

Mission

The Lab gives significant funding, time, and space to traditionally underrepresented artists. The organization seeks to transform alongside artistic practices in order to engage meaningfully with visionary communities whose economic and cultural realities have been ignored.

IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity Contributions are tax-deductible

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About THE LAB SF

THE LAB SF is a nonprofit experimental arts organization and performance space based in San Francisco's Mission District (Redstone Building). Founded in 1984, it supports interdisciplinary, experimental, and underrepresented artistic practices through commissions, residencies, exhibitions, performances, and public programs. In recent years The Lab has remained an active, donor-facing arts organization, presenting dozens of projects annually, paying a broad roster of artists, and advancing a capital renovation that expands public access to the historic Redstone Building auditorium. The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) public charity and continues to play a central role in San Francisco’s experimental arts ecosystem.

Notable achievements

Major facility expansion

Completed a multi-month renovation to expand The Lab's footprint inside the historic Redstone Building, opening the former Main Auditorium and increasing usable public and production space to support larger-scale performances and exhibitions.

Sustained programmatic production with measurable artist support

Across recent seasons The Lab presented dozens of programs and projects, commissioning new work and directly paying scores of artists (e.g., recent reporting shows program years with roughly 35 programs, 89 projects, and payments to over 180 artists, reaching thousands of audience members).

Longstanding institutional presence (since 1984)

Maintained continuous operation as an experimental arts nonprofit since its founding in 1984, evolving from Co‑LAB to The Lab and formally adopting The Lab SF as its name while preserving a multi-decade role in San Francisco’s arts community.

At a glance

Total assets: $376K
Annual revenue: $715K
Tax status: 501(c)(3)Public charity
EIN: 94-2952488
Location: San Francisco, CA
Website: www.thelab.org
On Mahalo since: April 2026

Financial figures from the IRS Business Master File, the IRS’s registry of tax-exempt organizations.

Recognition

Rated as a three‑star charity (good overall score) by an independent charity evaluator, reflecting favorable assessments of accountability, finance, and impact measurement.

Listed and recognized in City of San Francisco program materials as a Legacy Business / long-established cultural institution serving the community.

Registered and operating as a tax‑exempt 501(c)(3) public charity since the mid-1980s, with public nonprofit filings and yearly Form 990s available through nonprofit data services.

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