Welcome to a new SF Heritage short series called “Past Meets Possibility”
On August 1, SF Heritage published a Request for Concept Proposals to transform the Doolan-Larson House and Storefronts into “a dynamic, community-centered cultural destination.”
Between now and November we’ll share monthly highlights about this landmark’s past and encourage you to reimagine the building’s future. See the last post here.
Visit haightandashbury.org to download the RFCP, fill out our community survey, and arrange a visit. See below for a special Q&A update about the project.
This week, to spark ideas for future activations, we’ll look at the ways SF Heritage’s artists-in-residence have activated the Doolan-Larson House & Storefronts in the past.
Artists-in-Residence at the Doolan Larson House
Since we published the Request for Concept Proposals on August 1, we at SF Heritage have enjoyed hearing your ideas on how to reimagine the Doolan-Larson House & Storefronts. Our future partner(s) will build on a legacy of creativity, transformation, and innovation–exemplified most recently by SF Heritage’s artists-in-residence.
Between 2020 and 2023, SF Heritage partnered with over 10 artists across disciplines, who lived, worked, exhibited, and performed at our historic property. We hope that these artists’ ingenuity inspires you to activate the property in similarly creative ways!
Music
In early 2021, the Doolan-Larson House’s attic became a production studio. Composer and musician Ben Juodvalkis created an “audio documentary” of the House, with original music and spoken historical content for each room. One such composition was “The Duke of the Haight,” a ballad for Norm Larson, who lived in the house from 1985 until his death in 2018.
Writing
During the residency program, the Doolan-Larson House also served as a writer’s retreat. During his 2021 residency, actor Jimmie Fails created a collection of poems, short stories, and journals, taking inspiration from the Doolan-Larson House and other Haight-Ashbury historic properties.
In 2022, Linda Kelly, editor-in-chief of the Haight Street Voice, interviewed Haight-Ashbury neighbors and visitors at Gallery 1506, located at one of the Doolan-Larson Storefronts. (Kelly returned to the building this year to host a “radio-in-residency” as we move through the RFCP process.)
That same year, artist Chibueze Crouch created poetry and interviewee profiles about Black histories in the Haight to supplement Time of Change, which they performed at the Doolan-Larson in 2021 with Joe Goode Performance Group (see below).
Lastly, scholar Blake Sloenecker conducted archival research about the Sexual Freedom League (SFL) during his three-week residency in 2022.
Visual Art
Visual artists have also used the Doolan-Larson House and its storefront at 1506 Haight Street as the inspiration and display space for stunning artworks, from paintings to rock posters.
One-color screen print on Coventry rag vellum 320gsm, 53 x 39.5”, edition of 10
In 2021, artist and illustrator Jeremy Fish interviewed Haight-Ashbury residents, counterculture figures, and historians, transforming these authentic stories into pen-and-ink drawings about the counterculture movement and the history of the Haight.
Screen print; signed and numbered edition of 25.
The following year, Gallery 1506 hosted two exhibits by renowned rock poster artists: Emek, who works with silk screens, metal, glass, and plastic, and Zoltron, an anonymous artist who created an exhibit titled Apocalypse When? and a corresponding art retail experience of rapture-inspired counterculture artists.
SF Heritage also welcomed Ali Blum, a painter and printmaker whose work deals with climate change and endangered species, and Calixto Robles, a painter, printmaker, and sculptor who focuses on natural and supernatural Indigenous species. Their joint exhibit, titled March Vernal Equinox, was held at Gallery 1506.
Performance Art
Lastly, SF Heritage’s artists-in-residence have embarked on daring and creative performance art pieces at the Doolan-Larson House.
In June 2021, Eye Zen Presents, a transdisciplinary theater company, produced a queer history tour in the Haight called OUT of Site: Haight-Ashbury. Actor Tina D’Elia portrayed Peggy Caserta and George Harris III, aka Hibiscus, two important figures from the Gay Liberation Movement.
That year, SF Heritage also collaborated with Joe Goode Performance Group to put on a live performance of dance, monologue, and music titled Time of Change. The group activated the Doolan-Larson’s exterior for the finale, where aerial dancers performed to video projections atop the façade of the building.
Did these activations spark ideas of what you’d like to see at the Doolan-Larson House & StorefrontsBuilding? We’d love to hear from you!
Q&A and Community Survey Update (as of October 30, 2025)
- Consolidated response to all questions we have received to date have been added to the RFCP page of the project website. We hope this is helpful! Any other questions not covered here should be sent to haight@sfheritage.org.
- Also included at the link above are results and responses from our open community survey which we hope you might find helpful in preparing any Request for Concept Proposal submission.
Project Timeline:
- RFCP Process Opened to the public: August 1, 2025
- Open House: Every Thursday afternoon, 4–6 PM PT – RSVP at haight@sfheritage.org
- Participation Forms Due: November 21, 2025
- Responses Due: Friday, November 21, 2025
- RFP Invitations Issued: January 2026
- Proposals Due (Next Phase): End of April 2026
- Public Presentations of Finalists: May 2026
- Final Interviews: May 2026
- Project/Partner(s) Selected: June 2026
About San Francisco Heritage: San Francisco Heritage is a 501(c)(3) membership organization that preserves and enhances San Francisco’s unique architectural and cultural identity. Since its founding in 1971, Heritage has built on its activist underpinnings and has dedicated itself to citywide advocacy and education. www.sfheritage.org
