Root Division is a visual arts non-profit founded in 2002 by three graduates of the San Francisco Art Institute as a sustainable arts hub designed to constructively address the main challenges facing Bay Area emerging artists: the need for low-cost studio space, exhibition opportunities, and arts-related professional experience. The organization opened its first home on 17th Street in San Francisco's Mission District in 2004, and later relocated to its current facility in the Mid-Market/SOMA neighborhood. Root Division connects creativity and community through a dynamic ecosystem of arts education, exhibitions, and studios, providing affordable studios for over 30 artists, presenting roughly ten exhibitions annually, and offering free art classes to more than 1,000 youth in under-resourced schools. Its mission is to empower artists, promote community service, inspire youth, and enrich the Bay Area through engagement in the visual arts, with a particular focus on uplifting emerging and mid-career artists and curators, including historically marginalized communities.