San Francisco Art Institute, the Bay Area’s intrepid home for renegade art and innovative education, is throwing its annual fȇte on May 13, 2015, with Gala Vernissageand Varnished: The After Party. For one night only, this celebration takes over the historic Pier 2 at Fort Mason Center, summoning art, artists, and the people who love them to the edge of the bay. All proceeds benefit student-artist scholarships at SFAI.

Fashion your most creative cocktail attire for this glistening waterfront affair, which showcases the ambitious, inimitable work of more than 100 contemporary artists in SFAI’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) exhibition, "Edge Effect." With alumni including visionary artists like Barry McGee and Kehinde Wiley, along with Academy Award-winning directors Kathryn Bigelow and Laura Poitras, SFAI has always—since its founding in 1871—attracted artists whose work shocks, amazes, and inspires.

Beginning at 5:30 pm, Gala Vernissage attendees will have the first chance to view and purchase work, meet this dynamic group of artists, and party with hundreds of creative minds and arts supporters over drinks and hors d’oeuvres. A seated dinner follows at 7 pm, featuring a program honoring arts visionary and advocate Roselyne Chroman Swig.

For the late set, Varnished: The After Party keeps the revelry going from 8:30 pm to midnight. View the exhibition—including live art performances, rendezvous with the artists and other partygoers, feast on cocktails and bites, and groove to the beats of several DJs—then capture your style with unlimited access to the photobooth.

You never know who will be the next artist to make waves, and this is your chance to say you met them, right on the edge. Purchase your tickets here. May 13: 5:30 pm–12 am. Pier 2, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco.