Saturday Travel Feature
SFAI, San Francisco, California

"San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus is in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. SFAI was founded in 1871, and is one of the oldest art schools in the United States.

"SFAI offers Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Master of Fine Arts degrees and Post-Baccalaureate certificates.

"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 moved to its present location at 800 Chestnut Street in San Francisco. In 1961 the school took its modern name, the San Francisco Art Institute.


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

"The Making of a Fresco" was painted in 1931 on the wall of the main floor gallery off the central plaza of the San Francisco Art Institute. It is one of four murals painted in San Francisco by the the Mexican artist. (See Link 2.) Other features of the SFAI building at the top of the Chestnut Street (800 Chestnut Street) hill are: the central plaza fountain, the ornate front entrance archway, and the rooftop area large enough to hold graduation ceremonies and giving a breathtaking view of San Francisco.

Photos: Top photo, SFAI tower, taken from cover of 1997 Commencement Day Program. Bottom photo, Diego Rivera murals inside SFAI, taken from cover of 19997 Commencement Day Program.

Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Art_Institute
Link 2: http://www.sfai.edu/page.aspx?page=34

Note: Amy Wilson, daughter of Suzanne Wilson, was granted a SFAI Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1997 and a SFAI Master of Fine Arts degree in 1999. She is a painter and teaches art at Diablo Valley College. (See Blog Post July 3, 2010 "Developing Environments, SF".)