San Francisco Art Institute

San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) consists of two schools: the School of Studio Practice and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies. The School of Studio Practice offers B.F.A., M.F.A., and Low-residency Summer M.F.A. degree programs and postbaccalaureate certificates in design+technology, film, new genres, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers degree programs in exhibition and museum studies (M.A.), history and theory of contemporary art (B.A., M.A.), and urban studies (B.A., M.A.). Students at SFAI receive a broad education that informs and enhances their primary area of study, choosing electives and fulfilling curriculum requirements from both schools. The high percentage of electives in the curriculum allows for an individualized education that is as well-rounded as it is focused. SFAI prepares students to be creative leaders in whatever professions they pursue.

Students at SFAI build on a rich legacy of the kind of questioning that encourages the experimentation necessary for independent and collaborative invention. Students work closely with peers and faculty members from a wide variety of backgrounds and fields; studio courses and seminars have a maximum of fifteen students. Students also participate in projects that allow them to move beyond the classroom and into the world. These programs combine SFAI’s historical ways of teaching — through critique seminars, studio courses, and tutorials — with forms of research that emphasize the independent and collaborative nature of both teaching and learning. Internships, independent study, travel courses, and international exchange programs give students practical and professional experience.

Program Facilities

SFAI’s main campus is located at 800 Chestnut Street in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, overlooking the bay. The campus provides 24-hour access to light-filled painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and printmaking studios; black-box studios for film, video, and performance; galleries; and lecture hall/theater and seminar rooms. Postproduction facilities include darkrooms, mural printing, and large-scale digital photo output; Super 8 and 16mm film processing and editing; digital video and Final Cut Pro editing; an HDcam- and DVCam-equipped video finishing suite; and sound studios. SFAI’s Anne Bremer Memorial Library holds over 30,000 volumes, subscriptions to more than 200 periodicals, and collections of slides, audiotapes, videotapes, films, and DVDs.

The Graduate Center is a large industrial loft building along the San Francisco Bay. The facility houses individual and group studios, a digital lab, film and sound studios, darkrooms, a wood shop, seminar classrooms, a gallery, and installation critique rooms and provides 24-hour access and convenience to public transportation. Graduate students also have access to all of the facilities on the main campus.

Faculty, Resident Artists, and Alumni

With a faculty of more than 130, SFAI enjoys an extraordinary student-faculty ratio of 5:1. Students work closely with faculty members and develop important and lasting relationships that continue beyond graduation.

SFAI’s faculty includes artists, curators, writers, historians, theorists, activists, critics, urbanists, architects, designers, performers, philosophers, musicians, and scientists. Okwui Enwezor, Dean of Academic Affairs, is a curator and writer and was the Artistic Director of the 2006 Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporaneo in Seville, Spain. Renée Green is Dean of Graduate Studies at SFAI, and her work has been seen throughout the world in museums, galleries, biennials, and festivals. Hou Hanru, Chair of SFAI’s graduate program in exhibitions and museum studies, is the curator of the Chinese pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale and director of the 2007 Istanbul Biennial. Trisha Donnelly’s work was included in the 2004 and 2006 Whitney Biennials. Caitlin Mitchell - Dayton’s paintings were used in the film “Art School Confidential.” Henry Wessel’s photographs were recently published as a five - volume boxed set by Steidl. Jon Phillips is an open - source programmer for Creative Commons. Mark Van Proyen is one of the editors of AfterBurn: Reflections on Burning Man. Amy Franceschini is the founder of FutureFarmers and has been involved in numerous projects aimed at raising public awareness of critical ecological issues. Thomas Humphrey is a nuclear physicist and director of exhibitions at the Exploratorium.

In addition to working with SFAI’s esteemed full- and part-time faculty, students are introduced to a spectrum of visiting artists and scholars. SFAI provides students direct access to an exhibition program showcasing the work of regional and international artists as well as SFAI students; an extensive roster of lectures that brings over 60 artists, designers, curators, and writers to campus every year; and film screenings, symposia, and panel discussions that engage in contemporary issues and ideas.

The accomplishments of SFAI’s alumni can be found in museums and galleries around the world, in libraries and bookstores, in movie theaters, on the Web, on television, on the streets, and elsewhere. A partial list includes Annie Leibovitz, who began photographing for Rolling Stone while a student; Molly Katzen’s vegetarian Moosewood Cookbook, which she wrote and illustrated; Don Ed Hardy’s over 20 books on the art of tattooing; Karen Finley, whose performances challenge notions of femininity and political power; the music of the Tubes, Romeo Void, Mutants, and Avengers, all pioneers of Punk; the work of Lance Acord, cinematographer for Adaptation, Lost in Translation, and Marie Antoinette; Peter Strietmann and Christopher Seguine, editors and cinematographers for Mathew Barney’s Cremaster” cycle; painter Kehinde Wiley’s commissioned portraits of VH1’s 2005 honorees; environmental activist Roxanne Quimby’s Burt’s Bees products; Robert Gamblin’s eco-friendly oil paint; Devendra Banhart’s music and drawings; Rob Reger’s Emily the Strange; and many more.

Exhibition Opportunities

Two large student-run galleries show weekly exhibitions of student work; each department has its own exhibition space; the lecture hall is open for student film and video screenings as well as performances; large exterior walls are designated for mural projects; outdoor terraces and the meadow are used for large sculpture and installation work; and weekly noon concerts by student musicians and DJs are held in the Quad. The annual Winter Sale is both an exhibition and opportunity to sell work open to all students. The M.F.A. Graduate exhibition, attracting over 5,000 visitors each year, occupies 4,000 square feet at Fort Mason. The B.F.A. exhibition takes over the entire Chestnut Street campus each May.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: continuous. Required: essay, high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, 2 letters of recommendation, portfolio, SAT or ACT test scores, TOEFL score of 580 for international students, English translation of transcripts for international students, WES evaluation for international students. Recommended: minimum 2.0 high school GPA, interview. Auditions held 1 time. Portfolio reviews held continuously on campus and off campus in locations nationwide, see www.npda.org; the submission of slides may be substituted for portfolios for out-of-state or international applicants.

San Francisco Art Institute

Program Facilities

Faculty, Resident Artists, and Alumni

Exhibition Opportunities

Application Procedures

Contact