SHACK15 Artist Fellow in Conversation: Em Kettner @ SHACK15
Join us at SHACK15 for the fourth of seven inaugural SHACK15 Artist Fellow activations with artist Em Kettner
Kettner conjures miniature worlds of interdependence from her Richmond studio, where porcelain limbs break and bind together through cotton and silk threads that refuse to let go. Her figurative sculptures and glazed tile drawings celebrate the erotic comedy of care—bodies intertwined in gestures both assistive and desiring, knitted to each other and the furniture that holds them.
Em Kettner’s recent solo exhibitions include Cyrano at Rebecca Camacho Presents (San Francisco, CA), Homebound at François Ghebaly Gallery (New York, NY), Sick Joke at Chapter NY (New York, NY), Slow Poke at François Ghebaly Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), The Eternal Worm at HARPY (Rutherford, NJ), and Play the Fool at Goldfinch (Chicago, IL). She’s participated in two-person and group exhibitions at F2T Gallery (Milan, Italy), Pangée (Montreal, Canada), Foundry (Seoul, South Korea), Pipeline (London, UK), Outer Space (Concord, NH), the MFA (Boston, MA), Winter Street Gallery (Edgartown, MA), Candice Madey (New York, NY), and Et al. Gallery (San Francisco, CA), among others.
Her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; the Ohana Center, Monterey, CA; the DePaul Art Museum and The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, both Chicago, IL. She has received the Wynn Newhouse Award, and in 2026, Kettner was named one of 16 finalists for the SFMOMA SECA Art Award.
Run of Show
5:30 PM — Doors open, cash bar service & music
6:00 PM — Artist presentation and conversation
6:45 PM — Brief Q&A and closing remarks
7:00 PM — Open conversation
8:00 PM — Event ends
About the SHACK15 Art Prize
The SHACK15 Art Prize, curated in partnership with ArtBae, represents an unprecedented investment in the Bay Area’s cultural future, offering $20,000 fellowships to seven regional artists to create new work culminating in a group exhibition during SF Art Week 2026.
About ArtBae
ArtBae, co-founded by Inga Bard and Andrew Berardini, and organized with Lucas Foglia, helps the Bay Area connect with art through criticism, events, and community engagement. ArtBae supports the local art ecology by amplifying artists and building cultural infrastructure. Visit artbae.info or follow @artbae.info on Instagram.
RSVP Required
This event is 21+
Please review our House Rules and Guest Code of Conduct.
About SHACK15
SHACK15 is a community for Founders, Innovators and Changemakers. Located on the third floor of the iconic San Francisco Ferry Building with panoramic views of the Bay, SHACK15 provides the stage for a diverse global community to gather and connect.
SHACK15 Location
We’re located on the 2nd floor of San Francisco's Ferry Building. Please use the elevator to come to the 2nd floor in the Ferry Building’s “Office Lobby” - located underneath the giant clock tower, on the left side of the main market entrance.