The Labor Temple was built to serve San Francisco's organized labor movement, providing meeting halls, offices, and gathering space for unions that were among the most powerful political forces in the city. San Francisco has a labor history as dramatic as any American city, from the general strike of 1934 to the longshoremen's battles on the waterfront. The building at 16th and Capp Streets was a headquarters for that activism, a place where workers planned actions, negotiated contracts, and built the coalitions that shaped the city's politics for decades.

The Redstone Building's most distinctive feature is its murals, which cover interior and exterior walls with images of workers, immigrants, and community life. The murals were painted by local artists and reflect the Mission District's identity as a neighborhood of immigrants, activists, and artists. Each mural tells a piece of a larger story about labor, dignity, and the right to the city. The building's transformation from labor temple to community arts space preserved these murals and the ethos they represent.

Today the Redstone Building houses a mix of tenants that includes artist studios, nonprofit offices, a dance studio, and community organizations. The building's affordability and its connection to the Mission's progressive traditions make it a sought-after address for organizations that cannot afford market-rate commercial space. The Labor Temple's original mission of providing space for collective action has been repurposed for a new era, but the principle is the same: shared space, shared purpose, shared walls covered in art that insists on being seen.