Large warehouses that artists could repurpose as affordable studios used to be fairly common in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. Jacob Pritzker wanted to keep that going, and he let friends use his former warehouse there, complete with recording studio, for their projects. He imagined offering artists, so starved for space, a residency. In 2019, he and sculptor Jud Bergeron were able to do that with Space Program, starting with artist Michelle Yi Martin.
Bergeron had met Pritzker in 2015 when Pritzker commissioned him to create some bronze sculpture. They became friends and Bergeron started working in the Pritzker’s warehouse. There they hatched the plans for the residency now housed in that warehouse.
The residencies Bergeron had taken part in previously weren’t particularly suited to his work as a sculptor—he was afraid of making a mess on the floor and spent a chunk of his time searching for materials he could use in his work. So, with the Space Program, the goal was to create everything an artist would need in their six weeks there. Audio projects and sculpture were a focus since those were their main mediums, and Pritzker was also determined to have screen printing, which he thinks is a fun way for artists to experiment.
They’ve added other tools and materials over the years and bring in various experts if the artists need some guidance. Bergeron works on site along with textile artist Ben Venom, the studio manager who facilitates the silk-screening program. A tight community with the more than 50 residents over the years has formed, with an open door policy about coming back to use any equipment they might need.
In an email, Pritzker and Bergeron responded to questions about the residency. Pritzker says he knows they created something special by the artists’ responses. “The way people’s eyes light up when they talk about it is undeniable,” he said. “The eyes don’t lie.”
Julia Goodman is one of those artists whose shining eyes express her feelings about the invitation-only residency she did in 2024. Her words back that up. One she uses repeatedly is “a gift.” She especially felt like this as a mother of a young son.
“Jud and Ben are so generous. They’re also both parents, and they’re working around their kids’ schedules, so I never felt guilty about having to go home,” she said. “I was able to experiment with new facilities, and have new studio mates, and to be able to be home for dinner and bedtime. It’s tremendous.”
When Goodman saw the recording studio, she decided to create an audio project—a medium completely new to her. She archived conversations she’d been having with astronomer Dr. Isabel Hawkins and astrophysicist Dr. Aparna Venkatesan, which have influenced her work.
In 2023, photographer Jamil Hellu also tried something different in his time at the Space Program. He came in with a proposal to do something about the iconography of Lady Justice, representations of which he calls racist and sexist. Once he was there, he decided that for his work he would use bronze—which Bergeron has done for decades.
“It was a pretty giant leap forward in thinking about how to materialize my photography into a sculpture,” Hellu said. “Since then, I’ve been making masks, I’ve been doing face sculptures, so it’s not something that it was one-of-a-kind for me. It opened a route for me to continue to explore.”
Making things in bronze or developing screen prints require knowledge and equipment most artists don’t have access to, and the team at the Space Program encourage artists to use the residency to try materials and techniques they may not have used before. The poster point person for this is Christopher Duncan, who during his time there in 2023, recorded an album and printed and silk-screened covers for it, as well as learned to cast bronze and fire ceramics.
Maybe it’s something about having about having all that space–more than 2,000 square feet—as well as studiomates, that inspires the artists. During her 2025 residency, Carrie Ann Plank found herself doing airbrushing and digital work to create a suite of paintings, not the prints she often makes. She loved working alongside established artists.
“They’re amazing,” she said about Bergeron and Venom. “They’re there to offer advice or encouragement, but mostly they just give you space to do your work.”
For Hellu, Bergeron’s mentorship was critical. “It was very wonderful working under the guidance of Jud. He has an impact because he’s present,” he said. “I wasn’t in a corner doing everything by myself. It’s a small cohort of me, Jud, and Ben. I met a lot of artists coming through, but it was the one-on-one conversations with Jud that allowed the work to continue.”
Goodman created a silk screen for each recording she made. Her experience with Venom was equally positive. “Ben is just a dream to work with on the silk screens,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to pull them off without him. There’s just no way.”
Besides Venom and Bergeron, the Space Program team includes Emily Lakin doing administrative work, and Jacob and his brother Isaac Pritzker overseeing the operation. The application process would be too time-consuming to take on with this small team, Bergeron says. With artists they invite, they are looking for people willing to work outside their comfort zone. And one more thing.
“There is a strict ‘no jerks’ policy,” Bergeron wrote. “We need to be able to get along and most importantly, respect one another’s process and practice. It’s not a place for self-importance or big egos.”
Bergeron is happy the residency offers some relief to artists in the high-priced Bay Area. And he loves the community that has been created which includes his kids.
“They have pretty much met every artist that has come through the program,” he wrote. “I love that this is just part of the fabric of their lives. They are teenagers now and they have really strong relationships with some of the artists and that is priceless.”
THROUGH LINE, an exhibition of Jud Bergeron’s work will open at St. Joseph’s Arts Society on Thu/18. More info here.
The Space Program is organizing an exhibition at Southern Exposure that will August 10.
