The Walter and McBean Galleries at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI ) are part of the Exhibitions and Public Programs Department directed by Hou Hanru. The department is made up of five parallel sections that form a dynamic and complex structure, which includes “Global Figures,” “New Models of Culture and Art Production,” ”Pacific Perspectives,” and “New Voices and Acting Out in the City (from Prototype to Realization).” This structure emphasizes the institution as a site of production rather than simple representation—looking beyond the traditional histories and narratives of exhibition practice, while providing access to artists for SFAI students in the shape of residencies, studio visits, workshops, and off-campus community projects that examine the notions of public and private domains.