The Red Poppy Art House

Highly recommend! Intimate space located in the mission. I went to see the chamber music society of San Francisco play. The crowd was all ages. I brought my mom and she loved it. They are extremely talented musicians who played music of woman composers including Mendelssohn’s sister. They had chairs out for people to sit. And wine for sale.

This is one of my favorite places (top 3) in the Bay Area to listen to music. This place is intimate, warm, colorful and attracts great talent for a fraction of the price of a bigger venue. There is a definite theme for the performances here and one must have a pallet for it. I love «world» music and creative performances and this place is a great for that.
I take everyone that visits me to this place when there is a show. I would love if it was open every night.

Saw a great performance by a Spanish pianist and accompanying flamenco singer and dancers. It’s a very intimate place.
My one gripe is that the seats in the first 2 rows were a few inches higher than the back 2 rows, making it impossible for the people in the back to see much of the dancing.
That said, we will be back.

I had no idea this place existed here. Caught Charlie Hunter with Scott Amendola. It’s a totally small venue where you can see an act up close in a great informal setting. I guess it’s all volunteer run and you’re supporting the arts. Definitely a cool concept and space.

Sweet space! The night I came there (2÷27÷14), they had high quality musicians, and the atmosphere was intimate and laid back. A band called «Therianthrope» from San Diego smoked the house. The guitarist (Dusty Brough) had great technique and the tabla player, (Miles Shrewsbery), was a beast, as they played their very interesting original music. The first band that played had a expert guitarist playing original Brazilian tinged rhythms with an awesome female flute player (Rebecca Kleinmann) that was playing splendid original music that the guitarist wrote, in perfect sync with the guitar. In the back of the room there was two alcoves perfect for lovers. They have a few cozy chairs, love seats and a sofa among hard wooden chairs. A great neighborhood space to hear superb music. Check it out while you can and support quality live music!

No Saturday Art Program! Even though advertised online and by a sign outside their door, I was there 6/​28, after prepping my two kids for the event, but the place was shut closed and empty. It might be cool place but that was definitely not cool.

This used to be the best live jazz venue in SF. It’s still excellent sometimes, but the quality of the music has become uneven. Some nights, it’s open mic level talent. Other nights, it’s amazing virtuosity and high level art. The visual art is typically weak, but the music is often amazing.

I went for a Aisha Fukushima (Raptivism) performance and fell in love with her and the intimate, welcoming space. I can’t wait to go back.

Intimate live music/​. rotating art gallery. This art house in the mission has live music a nights a week, sliding scale admission, donation bar and an eclectic artsy crowd. Went on a Saturday night for a lively Andean band and will definitely be back! Check their website for events because they are only open a few nights a week.

Very intimate. I saw a jazz show here and the band and the audience were all filling the room. It was a nice experience to be that close to the people making the music. The space is used in such different ways from evening to day time that it is definitely worth checking out. Very relaxed and fun space to check out.
My suggestion if you go is to snag one of the love seats or the back bay window seats so that you can lounge with someone and get cozy. Otherwise it can be a little uncomfortable in the chairs.

Came here to see a Balkan jazz group. It’s a cool space, nicely done and chilled out (I was expecting some serious pretentious vibes but none of that). Staff were all really lovely and drinks were the right price for somewhere that obviously relies on donations and volunteers.
Highlights: Homemade sauerkraut on offer (amazing) and the awesome old dude who got his Bulgarian dance on during the set.

If I ever wanted a girlfriend, I think I want her to be like this place: cute, artsy, musical, and soooo cool.
When my friend asked me if I wanted to go watch Loe play in the mission, my first thought was we were going to see some Chinese dude playing basketball. And not a young and talented jazz singer and awesome jazz ensemble. They were so good that when my so-​cal friend called me during the show, and I accidentally picked up instead of declining the call, he stayed on the phone for half an hour listening to it. He said he put it on speaker while he worked on his car. I told him I will be collecting a $ 10-​$ 15 donation the next time I see him, which is what they were asking at the door. 70% goes to the musicians and the rest to keeping this bijoux around.
Our singer told us how she had no creative outlet when she first moved here, so she went to the Red Poppy Art House and started as a volunteer. Now she performs with a band and has her own CD. Amazing.
Drop by if you want to hear some great live music, look at art, or just hang out and talk to creative types in this cozy environment. Come and support our local creative seedlings.
*We were being loud and laughing outside the joint and got told to simma down now. The lady upstairs has been known to dump water on people. Hahah!

This is my favorite place in all of San Francisco. Lovely and amazing, warm and inviting, unique and authentic… I would fill this page with glowing adjectives if I could.
I’ve met the most incredible, friendly and warm (and good looking!) people every time I’ve stepped inside. They have been of every race, nationality, and creed. I’ve seen shows that had me running to buy CDs or signing up for random mailing lists or tracking down new artists. I’ve learned new languages here. I’ve danced, I’ve laughed, I’ve hugged (I’ve kissed!), all within the confines of the intimate space.
The last time I was there, I tasted ceviche so good that I think my body temperature rose a couple degrees (seriously, I had to peel off a couple of layers) and I felt (but resisted) the urge to kiss everyone in my immediate vicinity. In our frequently chilly city, what more could you ask for on a night out? Two times before that, it was the homemade punch. I don’t know what was in it, but I felt like Baryshnikov when I hit the dance floor. The variety of events and the warmth of the community is unlike anything I’ve experienced thus far in this city.
It is not pretentious and you don’t have to be an «artist.» You can go by yourself and you’re guaranteed to meet new people. It’s easy to get to, yet seemingly tucked away. Be careful because blink, and you’ll miss it. The suggested donations are reasonable and always go to support the artists and the art house. Give generously, don’t skimp.
I’ve never had a bad night here, and each night has resulted in an immensely enjoyable and different experience. Check out the calendar of events, and run, don’t walk.

I love this place-​a great way to support the community and hear great music and meet some good natured people! I came here for the first time a few years back to see Meklit perform, an ethiopian singer, with such a soulful voice. Since then I’ve been interested in seeing all other performances that they offer.
they have great seatings and offer some home made cooking! You get to learn about the establishment and learn about the how to appreciate life for what it is.
Please please visit and support this house!

This venue is exactly the way to incorporate art into real neighborhoods. This is what Peter Sellars was talking about when he said we should bomb all the museums and just have places in between bodegas and t-​shirt shops where you can see and make art.
Nice programming, great work. It’s small, but give me a break. Why don’t you donate some money before complaining about the size, the chairs, and the fact that it’s not a Big Block Bastion of Art where you pay two drink minimums and a helluva cover charge just to get in and schmooze.
This is where to go when you just want good music, dance, or other without eating pbj and beans-​n-​rice for the rest of the month.

So *this* is how those hipsters feel when they discover a new band that they just know is going to be big. Or, to put it another way: so *this* is what living in Brooklyn is like.
In short, Red Poppy is a postage-​stamp art studio at the inconspicuous corner of 23^rd and Folsom, that pays its rent by holding live music shows for an audience of… oh, about 30. Yeah, it’s small (but if you’re lucky you can sit on these beds in the window alcove… too cool for words). So I can’t help but wonder what will happen when someone blows the lid off this place… shows selling out weeks in advance? Hipsters bemoaning the old days before it was ruined by the Pac Heights crowd? I don’t really know, as I’m usually late to the party myself.
Maybe they’ll simply have to book more fringe-​y stuff; the show we saw would be dangerously crowd-​pleasing. George Cole writes original but well-​worn Great American Songbook-​style tunes and his band Vive Le Jazz plays them in a gypsy-​parisian style (hint: it’s the clarinet). Very nice, especially his new song about the economy («Riding to the Poor House in Style»). Make it the Red Poppy Poor House and I’ll see you there, buddy.

The Red Poppy Art House is like a reliable significant other. When you suddenly realize at the end of a crazy work week, «Shit, I forgot to make plans for the weekend,» there’s always Red Poppy to offer to take you out somewhere friendly and cozy.
But you pay for your own way.
And it’s important that you do: 70% of the donation you pay at the door goes to the musicians; 30% goes to the art house. It’s a good feeling to pay for a show and know that my money is going directly into supporting both the arts and my neighborhood as I want to see it (a neighborhood that has a «cornerstore» that’s an art house as opposed to a liquor store or lofts I can’t ever afford).
This is a volunteer-​run working artist’s studio/​performing arts space/​classroom. Each weekend, there are amazing performances of world music, jazz, a fusion of the two (one of my favorite groups to see here blends jazz with Indian Carnatic music: check out VidyA – they’re performing at the Poppy in September).
Yes, The Red Poppy is a small space. It only encourages the audience to take down all those walls and talk to each other. I don’t mind sitting close together with like-​minded folks who support the arts.
I’ve heard again and again from performers here that this is one of their favorite places to perform because it’s like playing in someone’s living room – they can just feel the vibe from the audience because we’re all sitting right there. The experience feels so much more shared; I feel connected to what’s being created before me, and when I go see music, that feeling is actually very important to me.
I ended up here a few years ago when I attended my first MAPP event (mentioned in many reviews), grabbed a monthly calendar and decided to sign up for «The Art of Not Knowing» painting workshop.
Best thing I ever did for myself. Seriously.
The workshop has changed my life in so many ways, and no, I am not being overly dramatic – for one thing, I indulged my creativity and that was amazing in itself, but more importantly, the MAPP, the workshop, my continuing attendance at events, my volunteering at the door and being able to offer occasional film nights/​discussions in this space also brought me into a community that has made me fall in love with San Francisco all over again.
SF needs more places like The Red Poppy, not more lofts.
For all ye Myspace fans:

So unexpected — a little bit of old Europe not far from some of the Mission’s, shall we say, illicit areas?
Subscribe to their email list now, especially if you want to know what interesting art-​music-​indy-​intimate-​see-​be-​seen stuff is going on. You feel like you’re in a living room listening to the most talented bunch of friends … in Prague. Art on the wheels that’s really in-​progress. Cheap to get in.
I’ve seen django-​style, klezmer, Parisian café music. Go to Red Poppy before it possibly explodes into a big thing. I saw that they’re doing something with Yerba Buena Center, so they might get big real soon. Go now, so you can say you were when

What a fun venue! Went with friends for an all day intensive called «The Art of Not Knowing: Part 1 — Painting Mixed Media & Collage.»
For $ 95, from 10 am until 6 p.m., artist, musician, and all around nice guy Todd Brown kept me on the creative path toward trusting my instincts and creating a pretty groovy collage.
The space also holds a series of concerts, shows, and much more. I’d definitely recommend a visit for a truly unique experience!

There’s so many good things to say about this art/​performing arts place… I don’t know where to begin. The space is pretty small (600 – 700 sq ft) but that’s a good thing because the vibe is always intimate, warm, and just plain special.
I’ve been here 3 times for 3 very different events. I took a 3 hour figure drawing class here that was cheap and good for practice, I came here to see the Marcus Shelby Trio and that was a really great show. The musicians were wonderful and the small space made me feel like I was literally part of the show. I also came here for MLK Day, where they were showing a MLK documentary and Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing all day.
The variety of events/​activities/​concerts here are impressive, (especially given their size and staff)…jazz shows, flamenco dancing, tango lessons, french conversation classes, art classes, international films, and free painting/​drawing for the kids in the Mission area on Sundays. They also have a bi-​monthly event called the MAPP, which is basically a big (and free) block party where garages in the Mission are turned into art galleries and performance spaces.
There’s a great team of folks who volunteer here and run this place, so check it out and tell a friend if you enjoy yourself.