Opening April 9th, 2026, Print Studio Gallery

Haight Street Art Center is proud to present I-Beam: Disco, Dancing, and Modern Rock in the Haight. Save the date for the opening party of I-Beam and The Power of Punk Compels You: The Photography of Rob Coons on Thursday, April 23rd, from 6-9 PM!

From the fall of 1977 until the summer of 1994, the I-Beam at 1748 Haight Street was one of San Francisco’s hottest, most beloved music clubs. Located in a former Masonic Lodge that was torn down in 2004, the 500-capacity venue was founded by Dr. Sanford Kellman, a Princeton-educated astrophysicist who opened the I-Beam as a gay disco. Initially, the club’s Sunday Tea Dances were the biggest draw, but in the early 1980s, live rock, punk, and new wave bands were added on Monday nights, then on Tuesdays.

As the decade wore on and the AIDS epidemic carved big holes in the community, both inside and outside the club, Kellman expanded the I-Beam’s calendar to include even more slots for live music. Thanks to a killer sound system by Randy Schiller and the keen instincts of bookers like Cathy Cohn and Anita Rivas, the I-Beam attracted acts that were just about to break big, making it an intimate place to catch the likes of Duran Duran, The Cure, New Order, Violent Femmes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, and Pearl Jam, before their soaring popularity pushed them into the usual concert halls, outdoors sheds, and sports facilities. By the end of the 1980s, noise complaints from neighbors made visits from San Francisco finest a common occurrence—one bartender became the club’s new manager when his predecessor was taken away in handcuffs.

Finally, on May 4, 1990, a benefit jam was held in support of the I-Beam, headlined by I-Beam regulars Chris Isaak, Penelope Houston, and Primus.Coincidentally, on that very night, Kellman learned that the club’s legal battle to stay open had finally been won, but the club’s days were numbered due to the shifting tastes of local fans and competition from newer clubs in more fashionable, up-and-coming neighborhoods.

Special thanks to Kareem Kaddah for sharing his collection of I-Beam posters, flyers, and ephemera with us.

I-Beam screen prints by Dodie Shoemaker.