Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse communities.

Organizers demanded that the museum remove all "Zionist Board members and funders" of YBCA, participate in the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and not censor artists from solidarity statements.

Interim CEO Sara Fenske Bahat resigned amid the backlash, and county supervisor Hillary Ronen called for a special hearing into the museum's continued closure.

Not only does the center provide a stage for Bay Area instrumental and vocal musicians and ensembles, it also offers a sampling of musical practices from all over the world.

Along with solo performances, YBCA also has invited various musical projects to use its facilities, such as the tribute to composer Elliott Carter in 2008[10] and the Long Now Foundation in 2010.

[12] Solo exhibitions for artists include Tania Bruguera's Talking to Power and Damon Rich and Jae Shin's Space Brainz.

In October 2008, Israeli choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak presented their production of "Shaker" by combining ballet, modern dance, mime, and acrobatic techniques.

Alonzo King held his company LINES Ballet at YBCA in November 2004, which centered on African American field recordings with various forms of music, narrative, and film playing in the background.