Dates & times
All times are local to the venue · America/Los Angeles
- 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
YBCA’s Velveteen Rabbit Pop-Up Book Workshop, Nov. 18
YBCA’s connection to The Velveteen Rabbit begins with a bookmaking prompt, not a dance performance: in a two-hour workshop, participants can design a pop-up book featuring characters from the story. The session is part of YBCA’s all-ages art-workshop series and is inspired by a separate ODC/Dance production later in November.
A story becomes a bookmaking prompt
The Nov. 18 session is one of YBCA’s drop-in workshops, a series in which each gathering explores different art-making practices. For this one, the subject is an imaginative pop-up book featuring characters from The Velveteen Rabbit. Materials are provided, and participants can take their finished artwork home.
YBCA lists the workshop as drop-in but also requires registration. The event listing names four teaching artists collectively; it does not assign a particular role or pop-up-book technique to any one of them.
Further reading: Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗
Four teaching artists, distinct practices
Hitoshi Shigeta is an artist, art teacher and cartoonist who has taught art and design in the United States and Japan. His education includes an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BFA from Osaka University of Arts; he is also a senior teaching artist at the de Young Museum.
Rea Lynn de Guzman works in painting, print and sculpture and is YBCA’s senior manager of educational programs. Her work engages questions of identity, cultural assimilation and the Filipinx diaspora, informed by her experience as a Filipina immigrant in the United States.
Gabby Severson, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, works across photography, beadwork, basketry and sculpture. In her broader practice, she uses digital mapping to turn photographs into gridded patterns that she then hand-beads; that process is part of her artist biography, not a stated method for this workshop. Brandi J Ynocencio is a San Francisco-based printmaker and painter who teaches art and makes work at the Graphic Arts Workshop in Dogpatch.
Further reading: Hitoshi Shigeta - YBCA ↗ · Rea Lynn de Guzman - YBCA ↗ · Gabby Severson - YBCA ↗ · Brandi J Ynocencio - YBCA ↗
A separate production follows later in November
The workshop draws inspiration from ODC/Dance’s The Velveteen Rabbit, scheduled at YBCA’s Blue Shield of California Theater from Nov. 28 through Dec. 6. The 2026 production marks the show’s 40th anniversary as a Bay Area holiday tradition.
The dance work is based on Margery Williams’s children’s book, choreographed by KT Nelson and featuring students from ODC’s Youth & Teen Program. It includes narration and a musical score by Benjamin Britten. The Nov. 18 activity is a separate workshop in YBCA’s Grand Lobby, not a performance or a ticket to the later production.
Further reading: Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗ · The Velveteen Rabbit - YBCA ↗ · The Velveteen Rabbit | ODC/Dance Holiday Show SF | Tickets ↗
One workshop, one storybook prompt
The published programme is a single two-hour session. YBCA calls it drop-in, while also requiring registration.
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 · Grand Lobby, YBCA
- Design a pop-up book featuring characters from The Velveteen Rabbit.
Plan the workshop visit
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2–4 p.m.
The workshop meets in the Grand Lobby of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.
Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
Free, with registration required
Reserve a place through YBCA’s ticketing page. For ticket questions, YBCA lists 415-978-2787 during gallery hours.
Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
All ages; materials are provided
YBCA describes the session as a drop-in workshop for participants of all ages, with materials supplied. Participants can take their finished artwork home.
Building access and visitor policies
The workshop is in YBCA’s Gallery & Forum Building. YBCA says its public entrances are accessible and elevators serve both buildings; the 701 Mission Street and Garden Esplanade entrances have electric push-button doors. Wheelchairs are available first-come, first-served.
YBCA offers sign-language interpretation for programs with three weeks’ notice. For the Nov. 18 workshop, that standard notice period falls before the event, so contact YBCA to ask whether an arrangement is still possible. One caregiver accompanying a visitor with accessibility needs is admitted free.
ADA-defined service animals are welcome on leash and under their handler’s control. Pets, emotional-support animals and therapy animals are not permitted.
Visit - YBCA ↗ · Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗
Getting to YBCA
Use the Gallery & Forum entrance
The workshop is in the Grand Lobby of YBCA’s Gallery & Forum Building at 701 Mission Street. YBCA’s theater entrance is at 700 Howard Street; that is a different building entrance for theater events.
Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
Directions and access
YBCA says the venue is accessible by public transit, car, bike or on foot. Use the map link to calculate directions from your starting point; the event information does not give a specific transit route or parking instructions.
YBCA says its public entrances are accessible, elevators serve both buildings, and the 701 Mission Street and Garden Esplanade entrances have electric push-button doors.
Before you make a plan
Do I need to register?
Yes. Admission is free, but YBCA requires registration.
Are materials included?
Yes. YBCA says materials are provided and participants can take their finished artwork home.
Is this the ODC/Dance performance?
No. It is a separate art workshop inspired by the production. The dance runs Nov. 28–Dec. 6 at YBCA’s Blue Shield of California Theater.
Free Art Workshop: Velveteen Rabbit Pop-up Book - YBCA ↗ · The Velveteen Rabbit - YBCA ↗
What accessibility information does YBCA provide?
YBCA lists accessible public entrances, elevators in both buildings and first-come, first-served wheelchairs. Sign-language interpretation requires three weeks’ notice; contact YBCA to ask whether an arrangement is still possible for this date.
Location & Google Maps
Grand Lobby, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Map search by venue and address. Check the organiser’s entrance details before travelling.