San Francisco’s first gallery dedicated entirely to Pan-African contemporary art, the Art of Contemporary Africa (AOCA), will open on February 12, 2026, at the Minnesota Street Project in the Dogpatch neighborhood. Founded by industry veteran Craig Mark and South African photographer Clint Strydom, the gallery represents both leading and emerging African artists working across various media. Its inaugural group exhibition, “Afropop,” features artists including Dr. Esther Mahlangu, Ayanda Mabulu, Noria Mabasa, Willie Bester, Clint Strydom, Médéric Turay, and Samuel Allerton. AOCA is the sister gallery to The Melrose Gallery in Johannesburg and has already participated in major art fairs such as Expo Chicago, 1-54 New York, the Seattle Art Fair, and the Atlanta Art Fair.
The opening matters because it fills a significant gap in San Francisco’s art scene, providing a dedicated physical space for contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. By joining the Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD) and the Nexus Black Arts Festival, AOCA helps cement San Francisco as a growing hub for African art. The gallery’s mission to move African voices prominently into the global contemporary art discourse challenges the perception of Africa as merely a source of raw materials for art, emphasizing instead its vital contributions to the international conversation.