"An 11th hour gift has saved a famed San Francisco drag club from closure. Oasis, the SoMa bar and nightclub home to the Reparations and Baloney revues, planned for its New Year's Eve party to be its final event. Now, the venue will remain open for the foreseeable future, after a temporary closure next year. Oasis wrote in a Friday blog post that the Stevens family, Bay Area philanthropists, saved the club with a "significant financial gift" to Oasis Arts, its nonprofit arm."
""Saving Oasis is more than keeping a venue open, it's about protecting space for marginalized artists to take risks, share their stories, and build sustainable careers," D'Arcy Drollinger, the club's owner, wrote. Oasis has not revealed the exact amount that the family donated, but Drollinger confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that the Stephens family refers to Bay Area philanthropists Mark and Mary Stephens. They are the parents of Sky Stephens, who frequents Oasis. Oasis did not return SFGATE's request for comment in time for publication. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)"
Mark and Mary Stephens provided a significant donation to Oasis Arts, enabling the nightclub to avoid closure and plan to buy its building. The venue will close temporarily next year but will remain open for the foreseeable future. Saving the space preserves opportunities for marginalized artists to take risks, share stories, and build sustainable careers. Oasis opened in 2014, was co-founded by the late drag legend Heklina, and became a central venue in the Bay Area drag scene. The club faced financial strain after pandemic grants ended and experienced a 2024 robbery and vandalism that threatened operations. Sky Stephens and family expressed excitement about Oasis's next era.
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