San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately 220 undergraduates and 112 graduate students were enrolled in 2021.[2] The institution was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), and was a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). The school closed permanently in July 2022.
Not to be confused with The Art Institutes.
Former name
California School of Design,
Mark Hopkins Institute of Art,
California School of Fine Arts
1871–2022
Lonnie Graham
Mark Kushner
332
Urban
4 acres (1.6 ha)
Gray and Clear
Fog
1977[1]
85
Closure[edit]
Due to financial mismanagement, declining enrollment, high real estate costs, and a reliance on income from campus property rentals, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,[14] the school announced on March 23, 2020, that it would stop accepting new students for the following fall semester.[15] The institute marked its 149th birthday on Thursday, March 26, 2020, shortly after failed merger talks.[16]
They briefly announced the cancelation of the fall 2020 semester[17] before reversing their decision and allowing for online and offline classes through the 2020–21 school year.[18] In July 2020, after securing $4 million in donations, the board and administration announced an agreement had been reached to retain all tenured faculty for the coming academic year, resulting in the continuation of courses for the following academic year and the reinstatement of the degree program for those within a year of graduation.[19]
In February 2022 the University of San Francisco and SFAI announced that they were studying an acquisition of SFAI by USF;[20] however USF backed out of the deal in July. SFAI ceased its degree programs but announced it would remain as "a nonprofit organization to protect its name, archives, and legacy".[21] On July 16, 2022, the school closed permanently.[22]
On April 26, 2023, the San Francisco Art Institute filed for Chapter 7 liquidation.[23] The campus was put up for sale in late June, with an announcement that Diego Rivera's mural in the Diego Rivera Gallery, The Making of a Fresco, Showing the Building of a City, with an assessed value of $50 million, would be sold as part of the property unless no satisfactory offer is received, in which case it might be available for separate sale.[24]
In late February 2024, a nonprofit corporation endowed by Laurene Powell Jobs bought the campus including the mural for approximately $30 million, with the stated intention of continuing its use as an arts institution, plus possible on-campus housing for artists in residence.[25]