Clement Street Art Fair Draws Hundreds to the Inner Richmond

Art Clement Street Art Fair Draws Hundreds to the Inner Richmond By San Francisco Richmond ReView on November 13, 2026 • ( Leave a comment ) By Neal Wong Hundreds of people filled Clement Street between sixth and eighth avenues for the third annual Clement Street Art Fair on Oct. 17. Under a clear sky, local artists and organizations set up tents where families browsed various goods. The Clement Street Merchants Association organized the fair and is also responsible for other events on the street. Chris Squire, the association’s president and an owner of the 540 Rogues – a bar on Clement Street near Seventh Avenue – said the group has worked to schedule more events throughout the year to keep people on Clement Street longer. “It’s absolutely benefiting businesses,” Squire said. “We’re seeing more people come in, spend time and get introduced to new shops that they may have missed.” Planning for the fair took about three months and involved City departments, fundraising and the booking of artists and bands. “What started out really scrappy is now formal and operationalized,” Squire said. “We’re getting better at it every year.” The event also celebrated local writer Stuart Schuffman, a.k.a. Broke-Ass Stuart, who emceed for The Rig, a mobile music stage parked at Sixth Avenue and Clement Street. Schuffman said the fair marked one year since the City declared Oct. 17 as Broke-Ass Stuart day, tied to the release of his book collecting 20 years of writing about love, death and dive bars. “The City, very kindly or stupidly, gave me my own day,” Schuffman said. “I figured, ‘Why let a good thing go to waste?’ Let’s do it again, and so I connected up with the fine folks here, and here we are.” Schuffman lives in SoMa but often visits his friends in the Inner Richmond and has seen it change over the past two decades. “My butt’s been in that barstool in 540 many, many times,” Schuffman said. “This is one of the coolest neighborhoods in the City. When I moved here 20-odd years ago, there was not much going on over here, and now there’s so much happening.” The fair noticeably increased foot traffic to small businesses. Laurisha Hoxha, who has worked at Schubert’s Bakery for 23 years, estimated an increase of 10% to 15% more customers than on a typical Saturday, which is usually the shop’s busiest day. “It always is a very busy street, and people always complain about parking,” Hoxha said. “But another side is it’s very good to have an event to make it happier – make it more interesting.” Jet Seeto, a co-owner of Nakorn Thai SF, estimated that there were 50% more customers than on a typical Saturday, and that they were mostly people she hadn’t seen in the neighborhood. “Today is very busy. I love it,” Seeto said. “I hope they do this every week if they can.” Seeto said that even though parking spaces were temporarily closed for the fair, she preferred having foot traffic that brings customers than cars passing through. “People walk around and they’re hungry more, and then they’re stopping by and more business,” Seeto said. “It’s a good thing to do this. If they can continue to do this more, that’s good.” Seeto hopes for a weekly event like the farmers’ market on Sundays, but on the stretch of Clement Street where her restaurant is. Visitors came from around the City. Krish Sigler, who lives in the Sunset District, said his family came specifically for the fair and bought their son a onesie with a San Francisco design. They also stopped to look at work by local artists and ate at a nearby restaurant. “I feel like it’s a fun daytime activity to come out to and enjoy,” Sigler said. “We love attending things like this.” Another parent, Tegan Thompson of Noe Valley, brought her 14-month-old son, Arlo. The two watched older children craft at the Workshop SF booth, and Thompson said they planned to circle back to the art vendors. “I think it’s a great way to spend a day,” Thompson said. “It’s a lot of good stimulus, and it’s more fun than sitting at home.” Share this: Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Like this: Like Loading… Related Categories: Art Tagged as: Art , Clement Street Art Fair , Richmond District , Richmond Review