With a Slimmed Down Educational Program, the San Francisco Art Institute Will Stay Open After All

Last month, the San Francisco
Art Institute announced that it would shut down
its degree programs and cease enrolling new
students at the end
of its current semester—a
sign that, for many, signaled the end of the 149-year-old
school. 

But now, the future may not look
quite so grim. This
week, the institute’s board of trustees voted to keep the school
open, in a limited capacity. The school will indeed suspend its
degree programs after this spring, but rather than closing its
doors for good, it will launch “a campaign to reset and reinvent the
school’s business model,” according to an announcement.

In lieu of full-time programs,
the school will offer studio art classes, public education
programs, and grant-funded exhibitions and conservation projects
while it continues to search for new solutions to keep the
institution open long term. 

“Our doors are open and we will
continue to fulfill SFAI’s mission while functioning in a leaner,
more focused manner,” board chair Pam Rorke Levy said in a
statement. “We’ll use the year ahead to pursue strategic
partnerships with other schools and embark on an accelerated
campaign to raise philanthropic funds. Our goal is to put SFAI on a
firm financial footing, able to sustain itself moving
forward.”

The board’s March letter
prompted an “outpouring of
support and encouragement from potential partners and charitable
organizations,” the announcement this week explained, noting the
numerous protests from students, faculty, and alumni that were
incited as well. The full swath of reaction “convinced the board to
take extreme measures to keep SFAI open.”

Levy and the school’s
president, Gordon Knox,
previously noted that they considered merging with another
educational institution that had the resources to keep the San
Francisco Art Institute afloat, but that talks with potential
partners fizzled with the onset of the current public health
situation. This week, Levy said they’ll look to rekindle those
talks in the fall. 

Additionally, the school
will lease out its newly
built graduate campus on the bay as a fundraising measure, and will
partner with Sotheby’s for a pair of benefit auctions in 2020 (one
in June and another in November).

The cutting of degree programs
will still result in the laying off of tenured and adjunct faculty
members, as well as long-time staff, who were notified of the
changes in March. 

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