The San Francisco Art Institute is one of the U.S.'s oldest and most prestigious schools of higher education in contemporary art. It boasts an illustrious list of alumni in all of its areas of focus: painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, filmmaking, design+technology, and new genres. But most important, it has consistently held fast to its core philosophy of creating programs where creativity and critical thinking are fostered in one of the most open, innovative, and interdisciplinary environments in higher education. At the Art Institute we focus on educating artists who will become the creative leaders of their generation.
Founded on the heels of the Gold Rush era in 1871, SFAI has always been a magnet for artists and educators pursuing experimentation and innovative art forms. During the 1930s, the residency of Diego Rivera prompted New York critics to proclaim the school "on the cutting edge of modern art." Marcel Duchamp visited the campus and was intrigued by the work being done here. The trend continued during the '40s, with the development of West Coast abstract expressionism by a remarkable group of painters on the faculty: Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Hassel Smith, and Frank Lobdell. That decade Ansel Adams founded the first fine arts photography department in the US here, with such luminaries as Minor White, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, and Edward Weston on the faculty.
We haven't rested on our laurels. In the 1950s and '60s the Institute was the center of the figurative, beat, and funk movements that included Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Nathan Oliveira, Joan Brown, Elmer Bischoff, and James Weeks. We were also a leader in the development of conceptual art, new genres, experimental film, and video work in the '70s and '80s, with such faculty as George Kuchar, Ernie Gehr, Tony Labat, Paul Kos, and Sharon Grace. We're poised for continuing greatness under the leadership of President Christopher Bratton, Dean of Academic Affairs Okwui Enwezor, and Dean of Graduate Studies Renée Green.