“Before closing on July 12th, 2022, The San Francisco Art Institute was the oldest running art institute on the west side of the country being founded in 1871.”-Devin Cadwallader, 9th grade
The school was originally supposed to merge with the University of San Francisco, but this fell through after the President of USF cited SFAI's "financial status, student enrollment projects and deferred maintenance to its campus" as obstacles to the merger. The Institute’s bad financial management and the consequences of it only seemed to be made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. A statement on SFAI's website said "After many years of austerity measures, challenging fundraising campaigns, and various on and off merger and acquisition negotiations by a committed Board and administration, SFAI is no longer financially viable and has ceased its degree programs as of July 15, 2022."The school has established itself as a non-profit organization to preserve the name and legacy of SFAI.
An SFGate article by Ariana Bindman reported that as of 2020, SFAI had just a 39.2% graduation rate and that a four-year degree cost nearly $280,000, but for many former students, SFAI has had some degree of dysfunction and drama for a long time. When asked about the closing of SFAI former New Genres teacher and SFAI alumnus Jennifer Walford said, “I don’t think I actually feel as sad as I might otherwise. And I guess I say that because the art institute was in crisis when I was there in the 90s. This has been a long drawn out death.” Walford said she was angry at how mismanaged the school was when it came to the increase in cost of tuition, lack of action and leadership assuming responsibility.
Amy Berk, alumnus and former teacher who runs City Studios shared a similar sentiment: “There was a lot of mismanagement. I say I was shocked but not really. I’m just bummed that it was mismanaged for so many years.” Berk found it challenging to teach programs with students paying so much money to get an arts degree and wondered how they would ever pay it back. When asked about her student loans compared to that of more recent students Berk said, ”When I got my masters I took out some loans but they were reasonable. I was able to pay them off, it did not bankrupt me.”
The San Francisco art community might not be facing just the loss of SFAI but also Diego Rivera’s mural The Making of a Fresco, Showing The Building of a City. The University of California owns SFAI’s Chestnut street campus but doesn't own the mural inside the building. The piece was commissioned for $2,500 but is now worth up to $50 million and was marked as a landmark by city officials after the school explored selling the piece in early 2021 to pay off their debts. Since then $200,000 has been donated by The Mellon Foundation towards restoration, though what happens to The Fresco is unknown. If the Art Institute defaults on its lease they will have to give up The Fresco or remove and relocate it. SFAI has stated they are actively working with donors to protect it, however its future still remains uncertain.
Multiple organizations and artists have been fundraising to save SFAI from closing, so far none of them have been able to repay an estimated $39.4 million long-term debt. When asked about organizations fundraising to save SFAI, Berk said “Oh, people have been trying to raise money to save SFAI for decades and I just felt that, that's sweet. It just wasn’t going to make it and it’s unfortunate. Maybe it’s just time you know.“
Ariana Bindman in her SFGate article said,“when I see poor, idiotic grassroots campaigns to save SFAI — an institution that was so cruelly expensive it forced 90% of domestic students to take out loans they will likely spend their whole lives paying back — I want to shake organizers by their shoulders and scream, “STOP.”
Though the art institute was not perfect it’s still a huge part of San Francisco's art history. Many successful artists like Kathryn Bigelow, Bruce Nauman, Marcel Duchamp, Carlos Villa and Chris Burden went to SFAI. With the first tech wave happening in 1996 and SF housing prices increasing noticeably due to demand from the tech industry, many artists found themselves unable to afford the city. San Francisco has once again been left with one less place for artists and their work to exist.
Jennifer Walford had this to say about SFAI: “The degree to which you could be so abstract in your thinking and experimentalist, just priceless. SFAI was also a victim of its own narcissism an awful lot. It acted as if it was the only school doing radical creative things.”
While SFAI is no longer an institution that young artists can attend, Walford went on to explain that there are still other arts options. “I teach at every school in the Bay Area and can tell you that these kinds of programs and young people and creativity exist everywhere all the time.”
An SFGate article by Ariana Bindman reported that as of 2020, SFAI had just a 39.2% graduation rate and that a four-year degree cost nearly $280,000, but for many former students, SFAI has had some degree of dysfunction and drama for a long time. When asked about the closing of SFAI former New Genres teacher and SFAI alumnus Jennifer Walford said, “I don’t think I actually feel as sad as I might otherwise. And I guess I say that because the art institute was in crisis when I was there in the 90s. This has been a long drawn out death.” Walford said she was angry at how mismanaged the school was when it came to the increase in cost of tuition, lack of action and leadership assuming responsibility.
Amy Berk, alumnus and former teacher who runs City Studios shared a similar sentiment: “There was a lot of mismanagement. I say I was shocked but not really. I’m just bummed that it was mismanaged for so many years.” Berk found it challenging to teach programs with students paying so much money to get an arts degree and wondered how they would ever pay it back. When asked about her student loans compared to that of more recent students Berk said, ”When I got my masters I took out some loans but they were reasonable. I was able to pay them off, it did not bankrupt me.”
The San Francisco art community might not be facing just the loss of SFAI but also Diego Rivera’s mural The Making of a Fresco, Showing The Building of a City. The University of California owns SFAI’s Chestnut street campus but doesn't own the mural inside the building. The piece was commissioned for $2,500 but is now worth up to $50 million and was marked as a landmark by city officials after the school explored selling the piece in early 2021 to pay off their debts. Since then $200,000 has been donated by The Mellon Foundation towards restoration, though what happens to The Fresco is unknown. If the Art Institute defaults on its lease they will have to give up The Fresco or remove and relocate it. SFAI has stated they are actively working with donors to protect it, however its future still remains uncertain.
Multiple organizations and artists have been fundraising to save SFAI from closing, so far none of them have been able to repay an estimated $39.4 million long-term debt. When asked about organizations fundraising to save SFAI, Berk said “Oh, people have been trying to raise money to save SFAI for decades and I just felt that, that's sweet. It just wasn’t going to make it and it’s unfortunate. Maybe it’s just time you know.“
Ariana Bindman in her SFGate article said,“when I see poor, idiotic grassroots campaigns to save SFAI — an institution that was so cruelly expensive it forced 90% of domestic students to take out loans they will likely spend their whole lives paying back — I want to shake organizers by their shoulders and scream, “STOP.”
Though the art institute was not perfect it’s still a huge part of San Francisco's art history. Many successful artists like Kathryn Bigelow, Bruce Nauman, Marcel Duchamp, Carlos Villa and Chris Burden went to SFAI. With the first tech wave happening in 1996 and SF housing prices increasing noticeably due to demand from the tech industry, many artists found themselves unable to afford the city. San Francisco has once again been left with one less place for artists and their work to exist.
Jennifer Walford had this to say about SFAI: “The degree to which you could be so abstract in your thinking and experimentalist, just priceless. SFAI was also a victim of its own narcissism an awful lot. It acted as if it was the only school doing radical creative things.”
While SFAI is no longer an institution that young artists can attend, Walford went on to explain that there are still other arts options. “I teach at every school in the Bay Area and can tell you that these kinds of programs and young people and creativity exist everywhere all the time.”
