A Huge, Free ‘Future of Us’ Fest Wants to Spark San Francisco’s Imagination
July 4 will mark 250 years since the United States declared independence from the British crown. But for many Americans facing widening inequality, intensified immigration crackdowns and persecution of protesters, the country’s milestone birthday doesn’t feel like a time for celebration.
In San Francisco, a group of artists, scientists and culture workers are launching a festival they hope will inspire everyday people to imagine a better future. On July 4–12, the Future of Us Festival will bring over 50 interactive, free events — block parties, scavenger hunts, art-making sessions and environmental discussions — to neighborhoods from Bayview to the Richmond District.
“A lot of people in the U.S. aren’t really happy with what’s going on … yet there’s so many incredible people that are here,” says B Patt, a musician and founder of the creative agency Nothin But Hits. “What would the future of us look like if the artists, the creative entrepreneurs, the scientists, the people building community — all those who should really be leading the way — were the ones driving?”
Neuroscientist and experience designer Stephanie Fine Sasse, whose civic engagement nonprofit The Plenary, Co. is the driving force behind Future of Us, teamed up with B Patt and a crew of interdisciplinary collaborators to produce the festival. The organizers also assembled an inaugural cohort of Future Culture fellows who’ve spent the past six months strategizing for social change through a variety of fields, including housing, tech and the arts.
“We don’t have a lot of opportunities to come together and explore ideas together,” Fine Sasse says. “And we certainly don’t have a lot of opportunities to do that creatively and in community and in multi-sensory ways.”
The festival kicks off July 4 with an all-day block party at the Pearl, a waterfront venue in the Dogpatch, which includes rooftop concerts from Tiny Desk-winning rapper Ruby Ibarra, hip-hop artist Ian Kelly and violinist Alexandra Santon. The Future of Sex on July 7 and 8 at the Tenderloin Museum invites attendees to imagine they’re at a meeting of a San Francisco Sex Commission in the 22nd century.
On July 7, Dateline 2046 offers interactive activities for youth to imagine their ideal third spaces where they can hang out and build community outside of school. And on July 8, Bay City 2051 invites residents of Bayview-Hunters Point, a neighborhood historically plagued by radioactive pollution and racist policies, to imagine what environmental justice would look like 25 years from now.
For her July 9 event Future Tables, Future Culture fellow and visual artist Dzigbodi Djugba has designed a ticketed dinner at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where 10 artists and culture workers will mingle with 10 people from the tech sector. The idea, through interactive activities and prompts, is to inspire greater understanding of one another.
“Let’s go ahead and sit down and talk, all right? Give your perspective, and it’s not meant to be anything argumentative,” says Djugba. “It really is meant to be very imaginative, which is why we put the element of food. I’m Ghanaian, so in my culture, food is a gathering place. It’s where you sit at the table, you just commune and you have sort of a family vibe.”
That collaborative spirit — of coming together, engaging in dialogue and envisioning new ways of doing things — runs through the festival’s omnivorous programming. David Dawkins, a visual designer and illustrator who worked on a Hall of Anythings art exhibit for the July 4 event, hopes the reverberations will last for years to come. For all the talk of San Francisco as a city of innovation and disruption, one that always chases the next Gold Rush, he wants Future of Us to inspire more emphasis on togetherness, mutual respect and care.
“The 250 — like, let’s reclaim it,” Dawkins says. “We built this country. Let us rediscover what it means to care for our neighbors and our people and just show up for one another.”
The Future of Us Festival takes place in San Francisco from July 4–12. Full schedule here.