The LAB

A creative hub for experimental and alternative artists and performers, The LAB, self-describes it as an interdisciplinary organization, which first came into existence in 1984 in Lower Pacific Heights. Later in 1995, it was transferred to the Redstone Building of the 2940 16th Mission Street. In 2013, Dena Beard took over as the Director of the LAB who exclaims that she re-envisioned the place as subversion from the normative administrative structures, which fundamentally runs on the “principle of refusal”.

The LAB is home to unacknowledged artists who are not only provided fellowships or grants but also the residential space of the centre. As a non-profit organization, LAB boasts and succeeds in creating a safe artistic and creative space - where bureaucracy and its power dynamics does not rip off the artists of their creative liberty and enigma. It believes in equal treatment of all artists and performers and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion, caste, gender, sexual orientation, physical disability and economic backgrounds.