June 6 – November 2, 2025
Opening this summer at Fort Point, FOR-SITE’s highly anticipated exhibition Black Gold: Stories Untold invites 17 contemporary artists and collectives to reflect on the resilience, struggles, and triumphs of African Americans who lived in California from the Gold Rush to the Reconstruction period following the Civil War (c. 1849–1877). Through newly commissioned and recent artworks, the exhibition highlights important but lesser-known figures and narratives from California’s history, exploring the presence of slavery and the struggle for legal rights within this “free” state, the successes of Black entrepreneurs, and the experiences of African American Army regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers. More broadly, Black Gold illuminates the role that Black communities played in the state’s cultural, social, and political environs of the time.
Black Gold was inspired in part by Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California, a public education campaign produced by the ACLU of Northern California, one of FOR-SITE’s community partners. The exhibition is presented in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Creativity Explored Artists:
Alissa Bledsoe, Ayana Norwood, Daniel Green, DeAndre Smith-King, Gerald Wiggins, Joseph “JayD” Green, Joseph Omolayole, Lance Rivers, Samedi Djeimguero
Featured Alongside:
Akea Brionne, Demetri Broxton, Adrian L. Burrell, the artists of Creativity Explored, Adam Davis, Cheryl Derricotte, Carla Edwards, Mildred Howard, Sir Isaac Julien CBE, Tiff Massey, Umar Rashid, Trina Michelle Robinson, Alison Saar, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Bryan Keith Thomas, Cosmo Whyte, and Hank Willis Thomas.
Fort Point Historic Site
201 Marine Dr, San Francisco, CA 94129
Thursday through Monday
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free entrance
Related Events
Tours
Black Gold: Stories Untold highlight tours take place Saturdays and Sundays at noon, duration 30 minutes. Space is limited to 25 people; we encourage you to register in advance.
Saturday, June 7th: Family Saturday
Meet with the featured artists and enjoy tours, music, workshops, and more.
Saturday, September 13th: Family Saturday
Co-produced with the Museum of the African Diaspora.