A special Sounds of the Tenderloin program at the Great American Music Hall explores the silent film era in the neighborhood, featuring Richard Marriott’s Club Foot Quintet performing original scores to two short films by Buster Keaton: “One Week” and “Day Dreams” (a premiere!). This plus presentations on the Tenderloin’s film exchanges by Kathy Rose O’Regan of SF Film Preserve and on Market St. Movie Marquees by Jim Van Buskirk and SF Neon.

Club Foot Quintet is comprised of:

Chris Grady - Trumpet

Mark Yee - Baritone Sax

David James - Electric Guitar

Kjell Nordeson - Percussion

Richard Marriott - Euphonium, Trombone & Compositions

Saturday July 26, 2025 | Doors 7pm Show at 7:30pm

At the Great American Music Hall | 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109

$20 GA / $35 Reserved Seating | Purchase via See Tickets

TLM Members get $10 Off

Tenderloin Museum turns 10 on July 16, 2025! To celebrate, TLM invited composer, arranger, bandleader, and saxophone great Howard Wiley to organize a musical tribute to the neighborhood featuring an intergenerational revue of legendary Bay Area performers. This extraordinary gathering of musicians will highlight how the TL has shaped the Bay Area’s music scene and pay homage to iconic venues like Black Hawk Jazz Club to GLIDE Memorial Church to Hyde Street Studios and the Great American Music Hall itself. Special guests include the Bay Area’s queen of the blues and gospel Lady Bianca Thornton; multi-talented rapper, pianist, producer, and frequent Wiley collaborator Kev Choice; Fillmore jazz legend and saxophonist John Handy; poet, activist, educator, and SF’s 8th poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin; the poet, public theologian, and current Minister of Celebration at GLIDE Memorial Church Marvin K. White, the legendary GLIDE Ensemble choir featuring vocalist Ashling Cole; and vocalist Lavay Smith and pianist Chris Siebert, who have regularly featured Wiley in their swingin’ big band the Red Hot Skillet Lickers for over two decades.

Wednesday July 16, 2025 | Doors 7pm + Show 7:30pm

at the Great American Music Hall | 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109

Tickets $20 GA / $35 Reserved | Purchase via See Tickets

TLM Members get $10 off any ticket

Tenderloin Museum presents Banda Sin Nombre in concert at Myrtle Alley as part of SF First Thursday Art Walk!

Thursday, July 3, 2025 | 6:00-8:00 PM

Myrtle Alley (at 835 Larkin St.  b/w O’Farrell & Geary)

FREE! No registration required!

Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to partner with Unspeakable Vice, “a volunteer history initiative making queer belonging accessible to everyone,” to offer a new walking tour focused on the LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods.

Saturday, June 28, 2025 | 2-4 PM

Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix | Admission to the Tenderloin Museum included with ticket

Created by downtown San Francisco resident and professor at California College of the Arts Shawn Sprockett, Unspeakable Vice began as a close look at the queer origins of San Francisco, traversing the city’s North Beach and Barbary Coast areas to trace the history through from 1770-1960. This new tour extends Sprockett’s richly detailed and craftily delivered approach to the TL and Polk Street to offer a deep dive into the emergence of LGBTQIA+ icons and movements that shaped the area from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

A special work-in-progress screening of Lord Frederick will be followed by an artist talk with Lord Frederick himself. 

Lord Frederick Screening and Artist Talk

Thursday June 26, 2025 | 6-7:30pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free or Suggested Donation | Register via Humanitix

TLM and the Roxie Theater co-present a 4k restoration of Northern Lights (1978) by prolific Bay Area  indie filmmaker Rob Nilsson. His breakout vérité masterpiece resounds with the museum’s interest in overlooked histories of immigrant communities, organized labor, and resistance, and anticipated Nilsson’s decade of “direct action cinema”  that yielded his sprawling, TL-based 9 @ Night films, screening monthly at TLM starting with Noise (2002) in September.  

new 4k restoration ft. director Rob Nilsson in person

At the Roxie Theater | 3117 16th St, SF, CA 94103

Saturday June 21, 2025 | 6:00pm (Little Roxie)

Tickets $15 (TLM Members get $3 off!) | Purchase via the Roxie’s website

Step into the fog-shrouded streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, where mystery, mayhem, and literary legend collide. Join us for “Tenderloin Noir,” a walking tour led by celebrated storyteller and historian Linda Day, that traces the dark footprints of hard-boiled writers like Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, and Mark Coggins—authors who turned the Tenderloin’s alleys, hotels, and shadowy corners into settings for murder, mischief, and moral ambiguity. A new walking tour offering debuts for I Love Tenderloin Week!

Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 2:00-3:30 PM

Meet at Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix

This year’s SF PRIDE x TENDERLOIN MUSEUM Kick-Off Fundraising Party takes place at The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play venue and celebrates queer legacy, community resilience, and our trans and LGBTQ+ storytellers on stage and behind the scenes. Featuring legendary drag performances by Donna Sachet, Shane Zal-Diva, Collette LeGrande, plus complimentary wine and diner bites. All proceeds support both SF Pride & the Tenderloin Museum

Wednesday June 18, 2025 | 6-8:30pm

At The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot venue | 835 Larkin St. SF, CA 94109 

$25 tickets support both orgs + NOTAFLOF | Register via Eventbrite

TLM and the Roxie Theater co-present a 4k restoration of Northern Lights (1978) by prolific Bay Area  indie filmmaker Rob Nilsson. His breakout vérité masterpiece resounds with the museum’s interest in overlooked histories of immigrant communities, organized labor, and resistance, and anticipated Nilsson’s decade of “direct action cinema”  that yielded his sprawling, TL-based 9 @ Night films, screening monthly at TLM starting with Noise (2002) in September.  

new 4k restoration ft. director Rob Nilsson in person!

At the Roxie Theater | 3117 16th St, SF, CA 94103

Tuesday June 17, 2025 | 6:00pm (Big Roxie)

Tickets $15 (TLM Members get $3 off!) | Purchase via the Roxie’s website

Do Ask Do Tell: LGBTQ Stories from Curry Senior Center is a collection of stories that provide a window into the lives of LGBTQ+ Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities in San Francisco. In celebration of Pride Month, the Tenderloin Museum and Curry Senior Center partner to celebrate with readings by selected participants accompanied by photo portraits from the book as a backdrop. Refreshments will be served, and books will be available for purchase.

Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 5:30-7pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free to attend | Register via Humanitix

Come see the talent behind the Compton's Cafeteria Riot give a sparkly show on the streets of the Tenderloin! Trans activist and “pop up” drag queen Shane Zal-Diva–who plays the role of “Rusty”–presents a revue of Compton’s cast & crew in Myrtle Alley (behind the play venue at 835 Larkin St.) for the Pride month edition of the SF First Thursday Art Walk!

Thursday June 5, 2025 | 6-8pm

Myrtle Alley (at 835 Larkin St.  b/w O’Farrell & Geary)

Free! All welcome! No registration required!  

DecrimSexWorkCA presents La Vida de la Puta es Bella, a transformative arts-based project aiming to address HIV stigma within the sex worker community by capturing the experiences of sex workers, particularly elders, affected by HIV. Join us for a screening and conversation (part of the Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival) followed by a sex worker march to honor International Whores Day.

Saturday May 31, 2025 | 3-5:30pm (march at 6pm)

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free (donations welcome) | Registration encouraged via Eventbrite

In the early 1960s, amid a burst of optimism about the future of downtown, leading Bay Area developer Eichler Homes, a pioneer in architect-designed suburban tracts, built "Eichler Central Towers" in the TL as a new kind of walk-to-work community for a new generation of young white-collar workers. Singular in its design, scale, and ownership for more than sixty years, the Towers offers a new lens for exploring the history of the Tenderloin and San Francisco—and the meaning of home in postwar America. In "Eichler in the Tenderloin: Experiments With New Housing for New Households in 1960s San Francisco," historian and housing scholarMatthew G. Lasner tells the story of one of SF's iconic but overlooked apartment complexes.

Thursday May 29, 2025 | 6-7:30pm

at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

$10 Suggested Donation | Registration via Humanitix

Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to partner with Unspeakable Vice, “a volunteer history initiative making queer belonging accessible to everyone,” to offer a new walking tour focused on the LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods.

Saturday, May 24, 2025 | 2-4 PM

Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix | Admission to the Tenderloin Museum included with ticket

Created by downtown San Francisco resident and professor at California College of the Arts Shawn Sprockett, Unspeakable Vice began as a close look at the queer origins of San Francisco, traversing the city’s North Beach and Barbary Coast areas to trace the history through from 1770-1960. This new tour extends Sprockett’s richly detailed and craftily delivered approach to the TL and Polk Street to offer a deep dive into the emergence of LGBTQIA+ icons and movements that shaped the area from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

A book launch, film screening, and panel discussion celebrates legendary sex worker activists Gabriela Leite and Carol Leigh and explores how their legacies shape the present. The panel is moderated by Juana María Rodríguez and features features Luisa Rivera, Kate Marquez, Celestina Pearl, Esther Teixeira, and Meg Weeks.

Thursday May 22, 2025 | 6-8pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

$10 Suggested Donation + NOTAFLOF | Register to attend via Humanitix

TLM is honored to collaborate with the Southeast Asian Arts and Culture Coalition (SEAACC) at their 4th Annual Multicultural Spring Festival for a special performances of the classic Vietnamese opera Hào Khí Việt Nam – “The Indomitable Spirit of Vietnam”--by Khoi Nguyen & Kim Chi paired with a presentation on diaspora in the TL!

Saturday, May 17, 2025 | 10:00am-4:00pm
TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series presents “Refugee Stories” ft. performances by Khoi Nguyen & Kim Chi from 12:30-1pm

At the Tenderloin Recreation Center | 570 Ellis St. SF, CA 94109

Free to Attend | No registration required

In celebration of Empowerment Month, the TenderloinMuseum joins SF’s Transgender District to screen Any Other Way: the Jackie Shane Story (2024). This innovative documentary film profiles a Black trans R&B singer whose immense talent and uncompromising authenticity drive an inspiring story about the transgender experience, visibility, and legacy.

Film Screening & Community Gathering in collaboration with the Transgender District

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Doors at 6pm | Film Screening at 6:30 sharp!

Register to attend via Humanitix

The Alaya Project explores the sonic connections amongst Carnatic Indian classical music, jazz, and funk. On May 8, the Oakland based trio performs their original compositions at TLM and traces the musical lineage that informs their groovy, cross-cultural sound from Chennai to the TL! Ft. special guest vocalist Diana Gameros!

Thursday May 8, 2025 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Register via Humanitix

A new mural by the visual poet Adrián Arias honors Indigenous resilience and presence in the Tenderloin. Join us on May 3rd for a “Murals of the Tenderloin” Walking Tour followed by a gathering at the Phoenix Hotel that dedicates “Indigenous Forever” through music, dance, poetry & community.

Saturday May 3, 2025 | 2pm walking tour, 3:30pm celebration at the Phoenix!

2-3:30pm “Murals of the Tenderloin” Walking Tour with the artist

leaves from the TL Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

$15 / $10 TLM Members | Register to attend via Humanitix

+

3:30-5:30pm Mural Celebration ft. LoCura, La Mezcla, & more

at the Phoenix Hotel | 601 Eddy St. SF, CA 94109

Free to Attend | No registration required

The Bay Area’s “Queen of the Blues and Gospel” Lady Bianca cut most of her deep discography in the TL at the historic Hyde St. Studios; on May 2, the Grammy-nominated vocalist/pianist, songwriter and producer brings her live set to the people of the TL with a Concert at the Cadillac! 

Friday May 2, 2025 | 1-2pm

At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 (next door to TLM!)

FREE! No registration required!

TLM celebrates the latest issue of  McSweeney's with a block party in the heart of Little Saigon. On the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the SF literary quarterly features writers of the Vietnamese diaspora reflecting on what it means to be “Vietnamese.” Readings by Vu Tran & Doan Bui + a DJ set by Topazu. 

Thursday May 1, 2025 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM

at Myrtle Alley (at 835 Larkin St.  b/w O’Farrell & Geary)

FREE! No registration required! 

Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to partner with Unspeakable Vice, “a volunteer history initiative making queer belonging accessible to everyone,” to offer a new walking tour focused on the LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods.

Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 2-4 PM

Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix | Admission to the Tenderloin Museum included with ticket

Created by downtown San Francisco resident and professor at California College of the Arts Shawn Sprockett, Unspeakable Vice began as a close look at the queer origins of San Francisco, traversing the city’s North Beach and Barbary Coast areas to trace the history through from 1770-1960. This new tour extends Sprockett’s richly detailed and craftily delivered approach to the TL and Polk Street to offer a deep dive into the emergence of LGBTQIA+ icons and movements that shaped the area from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

The story of a quintessential TL nightclub comes to life with a one-off spectacle at the Great American Music Hall. Michael Flanagan surveys Club 181’s epic history live-on-stage via special guest interviews, performances, & rare archival material. SF jazz star Veronica Klaus headlines with a set in homage to her time under the 181’s lights.

Wednesday April 23, 2025 | Doors at 6pm Show at 7pm

at Great American Music Hall | 859 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Purchase via See Tickets

Led by celebrated storyteller and historian Linda Day, Hot Pads, Cool Town offers an engaging exploration of the rich architectural and cultural history of San Francisco’s apartment and hotel district.

Saturday, April 19, 2025 | 2:00 - 3:30 PM

Meet at Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix

As part SFAC’s “Shaping Legacy: San Francisco Monuments & Memorials” project, the TL-based community arts collaboration Skywatchers shares a screening of their film, Reimagining the City as Our Own: Towards an Architecture of Inclusion, followed by a  panel discussion and community dialogue / response facilitated by Preethi Ramaprasad.

Thursday April 17, 2025 | 6-7:30pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

$10 suggested donation | Register via Humanitix 

TLM celebrates the life and legacy of Lady Harriet Sebastian–a prolific artist, natural performer, and generous educator who lived in the Tenderloin for 25 years–with an exhibition that takes a focused look at her magnum opus. 

Thursday April 3, 2025 | 5-7pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

“The Bridgemen” depicts a vision of civic greatness that centers makers, witnesses their fortitude, and honors their sacrifices. The painting is an epic homage to the city Sebastian loved the most, imbued with heart, soul, and worldly wisdom accumulated over her adventurous, freewheeling life. When Sebastian passed away in 2022 at the age of 90, she hoped “The Bridgemen” would find a permanent home in San Francisco; TLM is honored to host this monumental work for the public to see in Sebastian’s own neighborhood. Learn more about Lady Harriet Sebastian on her website. Opening presented in conjunction with SF First Thursday Art Walk. 

Free to attend, all welcome, no registration required.

Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to partner with Unspeakable Vice, “a volunteer history initiative making queer belonging accessible to everyone,” to offer a new walking tour focused on the LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods.

Saturday, March 29, 2025 | 2-4 PM

Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix | Admission to the Tenderloin Museum included with ticket

Created by downtown San Francisco resident and professor at California College of the Arts Shawn Sprockett, Unspeakable Vice began as a close look at the queer origins of San Francisco, traversing the city’s North Beach and Barbary Coast areas to trace the history through from 1770-1960. This new tour extends Sprockett’s richly detailed and craftily delivered approach to the TL and Polk Street to offer a deep dive into the emergence of LGBTQIA+ icons and movements that shaped the area from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

Tenderloin Museum is proud to co-present a filmmaker screening of Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria at the Roxie Theater, part of the Roxie’s 40 Years of Queer series and TLM’s 10th Anniversary programming. Post screening discussion with filmmakers Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman!

Wednesday March 19, 2025 | 6:30-8:00pm

At the Roxie Theater | 3125 16th Street SF, CA 94103

Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman’s 2005 documentary is an essential piece of cinema that has indelibly shaped both Tenderloin and Transgender history. Since day one, Screaming Queens has been central to how the Tenderloin Museum tells of our neighborhood’s story. Now, as part of our 10th Anniversary programming, TLM is co-presenting a screening of this crucial piece of documentary in its entirety with longtime collaborators and friends at the Roxie Theater, which is in the midst of showcasing 40 Years of Queercinema in a series co-curated by Lex Sloan and Jenni Olson. 

Whether you’re seeing Screaming Queens for the first time or revisiting this watershed entry into LGBTQ history, this program is an epic opportunity to experience this documentary masterpiece on the big screen with the communities keeping the Compton’s riot legacy alive. TLM’s Executive Director Katie Conry will introduce the film, and both Stryker and Silverman will be present for a post-screening discussion!

Tickets $5-15 via roxie.com

Tenderloin Museum turns 10 this year, and founder Randy Shaw’s seminal neighborhood history— The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime, and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco—has been updated through 2025. Join us in celebrating the publication of a new, updated edition of this foundational book at a public program featuring Shaw in conversation with TLM’s Executive Director Katie Conry.

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

And online via zoom (link will be sent to registered attendees)

Originally published in 2015, Randy Shaw’s The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime, and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco offered readers a dedicated, comprehensive history of SF’s Tenderloin for the first time. Shaw’s Tenderloin considered our city’s most misunderstood and maligned neighborhood with a richly detailed and nuanced perspective that tells a powerful story of over 100 years of resistance and resilience. The book weaves together narratives of anti-establishment social movements, working class culture, and vibrant ethnic diversity–as well as the vice that earned the neighborhood its name.

The research and writing of that book dovetailed with the creation and opening of the permanent exhibit at the Tenderloin Museum, itself a culmination of Shaw and others’ decades of advocacy for the neighborhood. Now, both the book and museum are celebrating an important milestone: a 10th anniversary. San Francisco has gone through a lot since the original edition; so has the Tenderloin neighborhood. That’s why we are so excited about Randy Shaw’s new edition of his Tenderloin book that brings this vital history into the present. Shaw’s depiction of the Tenderloin as an historic center of resistance perfectly fits the current moment. 

Join us on February 27th to celebrate the launch of Shaw’s 10th Anniversary Edition of The Tenderloin book for a public program featuring the author & museum founder Randy Shaw in conversation with TLM Executive Director Katie Conry. 

Free or Suggested Donation | Register to attend via Humanitix

Click here learn more about the book and purchase directly– all net proceeds support TLM.

Tenderloin Museum is honored to celebrate Black trans history with master storyteller, local luminary, advocate, artist, and  “Black transgender oracle” Andrea Horne. Join us for a special Saturday afternoon program to learn about and honor a multitude of trans trailblazers, their inspiring stories, and rich contributions across time. 

Saturday February 22, 2025 | 3 - 4:30pm 

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. 

Step into a space where memory shimmers, truth reigns, and legacy refuses to be forgotten. This Black History Month, join us for an electrifying afternoon with Andrea Horne—a Black transgender oracle, artist, historian, and advocate—who embodies the brilliance, resilience, and undeniable glamor of Black transgender women's storytelling.

Through riveting conversation and masterful storytelling, Andrea will unveil lessons from her groundbreaking book series, “How Black Transgender Women Changed the World,” while offering a dazzling sneak peek at LipGloss-ary —a living, breathing archive devoted to uplifting Black Trans voices.

From defying erasure to reclaiming power, Andrea will illuminate the stories of Black transgender women who have shaped culture, fought for justice, and infused the world with unapologetic beauty. Expect deep wisdom, sharp wit, and a celebration of identity, legacy, and radical joy.

Come for the history, stay for the vision. Let’s honor our past, empower our present, and dream forward—together.

This program is made possible by support from the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, SF Office of Economic & Workforce Development, and Transgender District.

Free or Suggested Donation | Register to attend via Humanitix