San Francisco Art Institute

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This article describes the San Francisco Art Institute, which should not be confused with the unaffiliated Art Institute of California - San Francisco.
San Francisco Art Institute
Established: 1871
Type: Private
President: Chris Bratton
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Website: http://sfai.edu/

Founded in 1871, the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is one of the U.S.’s older and more prestigious schools of higher education in contemporary art. The school is located in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California, United States. SFAI is a private, non-profit institution accredited by WASC and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.

The San Francisco Art Institute, with a view of Telegraph Hill
The San Francisco Art Institute, with a view of Telegraph Hill

Contents

[edit] Academic programs

SFAI offers Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Master of Fine Arts degrees and Post-Baccalaureate certificates. SFAI's current Dean of Academic Affairs is curator Okwui Enwezor.

[edit] School of Studio Practice

The School of Studio Practice consists of the traditional departments of Painting, Sculpture, Film, Photography, Design+Technology, Printmaking, and New Genres.

[edit] School of Interdisciplinary Studies

Founded in 2006, SFAI's School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers BA and MA degrees in History and Theory of Contemporary Art, Urban Studies, and Exhibition and Museum Studies (MA only). It also houses four research and teaching centers: Public Practice, Media Culture, Art+Science, and Word, Text, and Image.

[edit] History

The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was founded in 1871 and it opened the San Francisco School of Design in February 1874 under the direction of landscape painter Virgil Macey Williams. In 1893 the name was changed to California School of Design and the association affiliated with the University of California and inherited the mansion of Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill. Its museum functions continued under the title of the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art.

The fire following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed both the mansion and the school. A year later, the school was rebuilt on the site of the old mansion and renamed the San Francisco Institute of Art. In 1916 the SFAA merged with the San Francisco Society of Artists and assumed directorship of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, then located in the Palace of Fine Arts, a relic of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The school was also renamed the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA). In 1926 the school was moved to its present location at 800 Chestnut Street in San Francisco. In 1961 the school was finally renamed to its modern name, the San Francisco Art Institute.

In 1969, a new addition to the building by Paffard Keating Clay added 22,500 sq ft (2,090 m²) of studio space, a large theater/lecture hall, outdoor amphitheater, galleries, and cafe.[1]

[edit] Photography

Founded by Ansel Adams in 1945, the Photography Department was the first program of its kind dedicated to exploring photography as a fine art medium.

[edit] Music

In 1966, the SFAI organized an exhibition of rock and roll posters. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, SFAI was one of the centers of the San Francisco punk rock and new wave music scene. Among the many artist musicians who studied at SFAI are Jerry Garcia, guitarist in Grateful Dead; Dave Getz, drummer for Big Brother and the Holding Company and Country Joe and the Fish; Prairie Prince and Michael Cotten of the Tubes; Debora Iyall and Frank Zinkavage of Romeo Void; Freddy (aka Fritz) of the Mutants; Penelope Houston of the Avengers, Nathan Burazer and Jonathan Holland of Tussle; Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker of Troll; and Devendra Banhart.

[edit] Housing

SFAI maintained a small student housing program in the MacArthur neighborhood of the Presidio of San Francisco from 2002 to 2007. Students were housed primarily in semi-furnished townhouse apartments built in the 1960s with space for approximately 45 students. During the 2006/2007academic year, some apartments in the Baker Beach neighborhood were used with space for an additional 20 students. In August of 2007, SFAI transitioned to a more traditional student housing model and converted a 1907 hotel in Union Square to an unnamed residence hall. The Union Square property could house up to 125 students. Prior to 2002, students typically found housing on their own with some guidance from the institution, though at one time SFAI owned a small number of apartment units near its Russian Hill campus.

[edit] Notable current faculty

[edit] Notable former faculty

[edit] Notable Alumni and Former Students

(2001)[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ History of SFAI- San Francisco Art Institute
  2. ^ Entertainment Weekly, 1994: The Power of Love
  3. ^ Official alumni list

[edit] External links

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Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design

United States: Art Academy of Cincinnati • Art Center College of Design • The Art Institute of Boston • CCA • CalArts • CIA • CCSCAD • CCAD • Cooper Union • Corcoran College of Art and Design • Cornish College of the Arts • KCAI • LCAD • Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts • MECA • MICA • MassArt • MCA • Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design • MCAD • Montserrat College of Art • Moore College of Art and Design • Oregon College of Art & Craft • Otis College of Art and Design • Pacific Northwest College of Art • Parsons • Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts • Pratt Institute • RISD • RCAD • SFAI • School of the Art Institute of Chicago • SMFA • SVA • UArts

International: Alberta College of Art and Design • Burren College of Art • Emily Carr University of Art and Design • NSCAD University • OCAD • Osaka University of Arts • VCA
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