Undergraduate Viewbook - San Francisco Art Institute

View from the Zellerbach Quad, photographed by Trevor Hacker
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SFAI + YOU
You’ve found this view book, picked it up
from a sea of others, opened the cover.
It’s no accident.
You’re here because you have chosen
to embark on a creative future. You make
work that is adventurous and radical;
you let questions and curiosity guide you;
you take risks, fail courageously, and
experiment broadly.
IF THIS IS YOU, THEN KEEP READING.
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Rooftop Amphitheater, photographed by Eric Dyer
Zellerbach Quad, photographed by Joshua Band
SFAI IS WHERE BOLD QUESTIONS AND
ADVENTUROUS IDEAS TAKE SHAPE.
OUR ARTISTS AND SCHOLARS CREATE
NEW WAYS OF LOOKING AT AND
LIVING IN THE WORLD.
Since 1871, we have attracted individuals
who push beyond boundaries to discover
uncharted artistic terrain. A West Coast
legacy of radical innovation grounds our
philosophy and fuels a learning approach
that is gutsy and transformative. Our
philosophy can be summed up by a
single (complex) proposition:
WE BELIEVE THAT
ART AND IDEAS CAN
CHANGE THE WORLD.
ARE YOU READY?
PROGRAMS
BFA
Art and Technology
Film
New Genres
Painting
Photography
Printmaking
Sculpture
BA
History and Theory
of Contemporary Art
*You can pursue a minor in any
of these major programs.
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SFAI'S PHILOSOPHY
PROPOSITION: WE BELIEVE
IN ALTERNATIVE MEASURES
OF SUCCESS.
At SFAI, pushing boundaries is paramount
to learning, thinking, and making. Our
insatiable curiosity and questioning create
a culture that embraces difference and
individual expression. We are challenged
and inspired by our artistic legacy, but
we’re always looking forward—we know
that new questions create meaning for the
future. SFAI’s cross-disciplinary education
provides space to explore the world
through art and ideas.
WE KNEW THEM WHEN
SFAI's alumni are a raucous band of outsiders, who also
happen to be some of the biggest names in art and culture.
Our graduates take diverse and divergent paths, because
we foster creativity and critical thinking across all fields,
sectors, and media.
SFAI alumni open businesses, partner with galleries, launch
publications, found educational programs, make art, write
essays, teach, and always continue to learn and make.
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Work by Ahna Fender (BFA Painting, 2014) in the SFAI Courtyard
Kathryn Bigelow (BFA Painting, 1972), The Hurt Locker, Courtesy of Summit Entertainment, LLC
ART SCHOOL QUESTIONS BECOME LIFE QUESTIONS.
–KATHRYN BIGELOW(BFA Painting, 1972)
Academy Award, Best Director and Best Picture,
The Hurt Locker, 2008
LIVING LEGACY
SFAI ALUMNI TRAILBLAZERS
Environmental entrepreneur ROXANNE QUIMBY,
founder of Burt’s Bees
Creative superstar ANNIE LEIBOVITZ,
portrait photographer
Art renegade BARRY McGEE, painter and street artist
Academy Award–winner KATHRYN BIGELOW, director
of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty
Hyperrealist mastermind KEHINDE WILEY,
Renaissance-style painter of hip-hop heroes
MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award Recipient
TOBA KHEDOORI, master of the exquisite in the everyday
Social and public art visionary RIGO 23, painter
of the famous ONE TREE mural
Contemporary photographer CATHERINE OPIE,
documentarian of the human condition
Environmental advocate KAREN TOPAKIAN,
board chair of Greenpeace
Indie crooner DEVENDRA BANHART,
artist and lyrical craftsman
Mural by Rigo 23, photographed by Trevor Hacker
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SFAI CAMPUS
SFAI is a place of hidden histories, tucked into corners of
the campus, and literally carved into the walls. The past and
present of making, living, and breathing art are one here.
SFAI'S CHESTNUT STREET
CAMPUS HAS:
++ Studios and classrooms, with individual studios for honors students
++ Diego Rivera Gallery—home to an iconic Rivera mural, and a student-run space that provides opportunities to curate and exhibit work
++ Prentice and Paul Sack Still Lights Galleries for photo-based work
++ Walter and McBean Galleries—a professional exhibition space featuring work by international contemporary artists
++ Anne Bremer Memorial Library with 32,500 books and exhibition catalogues, a rare artists’ books collection, videos and DVDs, subscriptions to more than 200 periodicals, and a collection of frescos lining the main reading room
++ State-of-the-art digital labs supporting sound, photography, film, video, design, 3D modeling, animation, web programming, and print
Artists drive a truck up the Sculpture ramp for an installation in the Walter and McBean Galleries, circa 1970
CONCRETE + ART + EPIC VIEWS +
DIEGO RIVERA MURAL + MORE
ART + SECRETS + LABYRINTHINE
HALLWAYS + ART AGAIN + PEOPLE +
YOU
++ Rooftop amphitheater
++ SFAI Café
WHO’S HERE?
SFAI student-artists are too unique to be quantified, but we can give you a rundown of the “facts.”
478 undergraduates
202 graduates (including post-baccalaureate students)
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Opening night of Energy That Is All Around: Mission School on
the Zellerbach Quad, photographed by Shane O’Neill
UNDERGRADUATES
30+ countries
13% international
80% traditional college age (17–24)
43% male
57% female
93% full-time
SFAI has two residence halls in the center of San Francisco:
Abby Hall and Sutter Hall. New undergraduates 19 years old
or younger are required to live in campus housing for the
first year—and it’s a great way for students to become an
immediate part of the open and supportive peer community at
SFAI. Resident Advisors (RAs) also live in the dorms, and help
to ensure a safe and fun environment.
THE RESIDENCE HALLS HAVE:
++ Special programs and events
++ Lively community of artists
A typical room in the Residence Halls
RESIDENCE
HALL SCENE:
LIVING IN
THE CITY
++ Tutoring sessions
++ Wi-fi and shared computers
++ TVs with cable
++ Recreation room with foosball table, pool table, and TV
++ Counseling available
Filmmaking in the Residence Halls, photographed by Kiersten Mercado
++ Communal kitchen
++ Easy access to public transportation
++ Coin-operated washers and dryers
++ Front desk security
HEY TRANSFERS!
Fifty percent of SFAI students enter as transfers—we value the
depth and range of experience that transfer students bring to
the community, and we make it easy for students to transfer
credit and make the transition.
FIND OUT MORE
SFAI.EDU/UNDERGRADADMISSIONS
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URBAN
CONTEXT
San Francisco is incomparably alive with art, and SFAI is
your gateway to the cultural scene. With eclectic artist
spaces and pop-up projects around nearly every corner,
students quickly become enmeshed in the boundary-breaking
cultural landscape of the Bay Area. Ample green space,
underground music venues, world-class museums, spirited
technological innovations, and proximity to the ocean just
add to the experience.
ALUMNI ART SPACES + VENTURES
Everywhere you look, you’ll see art, art spaces, pop-ups, and
small businesses by SFAI alumni. When you come to study
here, you become a part of all this—it’s like walking into
a vast professional network from the moment you step
through the doors.
CHECK OUT THESE SPACES, AND LET US
KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. TAG #SFAI ON
INSTAGRAM OR TWITTER.
AGGREGATE SPACE GALLERY
ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS
BASS & REINER
CITY LIMITS GALLERY
ET AL.
EVER GOLD GALLERY (ALSO RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE PUBLICATION SFAQ)
GALLERY 16
LADYBUG HOUSE
OFF SPACE (A ROAMING GALLERY FOR
THE NOMADICALLY INCLINED)
ROMER YOUNG GALLERY
ROOT DIVISION
ROYAL NONESUCH GALLERY
PEOPLE I’VE LOVED
SAVERNACK STREET (A PEEP-HOLE GALLERY)
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Entrance to Ever Gold Gallery, with work by Loren Perez Villers (MFA Painting, 2014),
photographed by Joshua Band
Mural by Jet Martinez (BFA Painting, 2001) in the Mission
SFAI student-artists at the de Young Museum
GET ACQUAINTED WITH YOUR NEW ART SCENE
SFAI.EDU/ALUMNIVENTURES
Mural by Jet Martinez (BFA Painting, 2001) at Facebook
Typical San Francisco scene, photographed by Peyton Leng
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PROGRAMS
At SFAI, curiosity and questioning are central to learning.
The undergraduate degree trajectory is as individual as each
SFAI artist. Student-artists use the courses and majors to forge
their own pathways of study, and bolster the core curriculum
with electives across mediums and fields.
PROPOSITION: WE
EMBODY AN INTENSE
CRITICALITY THAT IS
SOMETIMES UNNERVING.
SFAI IS NOT FOR EVERYONE.
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Work by Hannah Kirby (BFA New Genres, 2013)
Through cross-disciplinary course work, independent studio
time, dialogue and collaboration with peers and faculty,
immersive history and theory seminars, and exhibitions and
lectures on campus, SFAI’s undergraduates become the agents
of their own creativity.
Brett Reichman’s Anatomy class, photographed by Katrina Herman
ART AND TECHNOLOGY
(BFA)
Art and Technology (A+T) employs technology as a tool for
activating ideas and communicating meaning.
The program challenges conventional notions of applied
design, operating instead from the same place of concept,
intention, and questioning that drives production in the
“fine arts.”
Art and Technology students move beyond the screen into
expansive realms of installation, interactive sculpture, sound,
electronics, mixed media, social media, and other hybrid forms.
THEY ADDRESS QUESTIONS SUCH AS:
Work by Laetitia Sonami, Visiting Faculty in Art and Technology
++ What will the future look like, and how
will it shift our interactions with objects?
++ How can artists appropriate technology for creative
and critical interventions?
PAST COURSES
++ Structural Drawing/Design Visualization
++ Active Wearable Objects
++ Typography: Context and Practice
++ Sonic City Sound Lab: Sound, Bodies, and the City
++ Rethinking the “Artist”: The Case for Collaborative Practice
++ DIY Culture: Intervention with Everyday Things
STUDENTS IN ART AND TECHNOLOGY
ACQUIRE THE TECHNICAL, CONCEPTUAL,
HISTORICAL, AND THEORETICAL SKILLS THAT
FIGURE CENTRALLY IN THE PRODUCTION
OF CONTEMPORARY ART, INCLUDING
TECHNOLOGICAL FORMS OF TIME-BASED
AND NETWORKED MEDIA, DIGITAL MEDIA,
AUDIO, PROGRAMMING, AND ELECTRONICS.
INSISTENTLY INTERDISCIPLINARY, A+T CONNECTS
TECHNOLOGY TO OTHER MEDIUMS, SUCH
AS PAINTING, SCULPTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY,
PRINTMAKING, FILM, VIDEO, INSTALLATION,
AND PERFORMANCE.
–PAUL KLEIN, Chair, BFA Department
Work by Jason Rasmussen (BFA Art and Technology, 2014)
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FILM (BFA)
George Kuchar filming in Studio 8
Film at SFAI ranges from narrative to experimental, animation
to cinéma-vérité, screen-based to installation.
Here, moving-image media is situated in the context of
contemporary art and ideas—SFAI views film and video as
tools for the conceptual artist and aspirational narrative
filmmaker alike.
Student-artists push the boundaries of the medium by
repurposing new technologies, uncovering alternative venues
for production and distribution and experimenting with
installation, performance, gestural, text- and sound-based
projects and approaches.
Practical courses in production, postproduction, editing,
cinematography, and lighting give students the tools they
need to realize their work.
PAST COURSES
++ Film Production/Postproduction I
++ Andy Warhol: Production and Application
++ Electro-Graphic Sinema
++ The Art of Screenwriting I
++ Documentary Filmmaking
++ Techniques of the Observer
++ Radical Directing
THE GHOST OF GEORGE KUCHAR
If the walls of SFAI’s infamous Studio 8 could talk, they would
tell tales of all-night film sessions, slap-dash performances,
and boundary-breaking genre experiments. This was where the
legendary George Kuchar—SFAI’s beloved faculty member—
conducted film projects and defined his lo-fi aesthetic through
the courses AC/DC Psychotronic Teleplays and
Electro-graphic Sinema.
Watch a video about the making of a
feature-length zombie film at SFAI, led by
Christopher Coppola, Director of Film.
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Students at work in Studio 8, photographed by Joshua Band
Today, the experimental cinema torch is carried on by George’s
brother Mike, and the Film program on the whole is led by
the incomparable Christopher Coppola—who guides students
through the production of full-length features, such as last
year’s zombie flick Dead Beats.
FLASHBACK: 1979 COURSE CATALOGUE
NEW GENRES (BFA)
New Genres transcends specific art forms. The artist’s
concepts, intentions, and questions are both the medium
and the work itself.
New Genres at SFAI has strong roots in conceptualism and
fluxus, and the discipline carries a legacy of irreverence that is
often linked to video, performance, installation, social practice,
and site-specific work.
Beginning Video/Performance with Howard Fried
CLASS DEFIES DESCRIPTION + TEACHER
DEFIES DESCRIPTION + TEACHER DEFIES CLASS
DESCRIPTION + TEACHER DEFIES CONVENTION +
STUDENTS DEFY CONVENTIONS + STUDENTS DEFY
CONVENTIONS TEACHER + ART DEFIES AUTHORITY +
REVOLUTION DEFIES AUTHORITY + ART DEFIES
REVOLUTIONARY AUTHORITY
New Genres is inherently cross-disciplinary and categorydefying. Students are tasked with responding to the current
cultural and sociopolitical landscape, and to find the best
means of expression for each individual work.
New Genres courses are laboratories for experimentation and
discovery. We challenge you to tell us what New Genres is
and can be.
PAST COURSES
++ Internet Killed the Video Star
++ Photoworks: Conceptual Photography
++ We Want the Airwaves
++ Conceptual Drawing
++ The Temporary: Performance,
Interventions, Installation
++ From the Bay to the World: Recent Experiments in Radical Art-Making
Performance in Tim Sullivan’s New Genres class on the Rooftop Amphitheater
Performance by Nathalie Brilliant (MFA New Genres, 2015) in the Diego Rivera Gallery
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PAINTING (BFA)
Painting at SFAI lives at the intersection of technique
and concept.
The legacy of painting here runs deep, encompassing
Abstract Expressionism, the graffiti-inflected Mission
School, California Funk, Diego Rivera’s Social Realism, and
Figuration—after Diebenkorn and straight through to Kehinde
Wiley (BFA, 1999). We are inspired by this legacy, but we’re
not tied to it—we know that each of these movements came
from new questions and ideas.
Painters at SFAI can stick to the canvas (if it supports their
concept), or can expand onto the wall, into other media, or
across platforms.
PAST COURSES
++ Painting I + II / Painting II + III
++ Night Painting
++ Better Painting through Chemistry
++ Painting between Action and Idea
++ Knowing the Subject: Beyond Replication
Studio of Alex Ziv (BFA Painting, 2012; MFA Painting,
2014), photographed by Joshua Band
++ The Painting as Site
++ Stream of Consciousness: Painting the Interior Monologue
WHAT SFAI REALLY CULTIVATES IS YOUR THING…
EVEN IF THE WORK THAT I MAKE IS INCREDIBLY
WEIRD, I WANT IT TO BE WEIRD, BECAUSE IT’S ME.
AND WHEN PEOPLE HAVE CERTAIN RESERVATIONS
ABOUT MAKING SOMETHING, I MAKE SURE TO TELL
THEM: NO HOLDS BARRED. REMOVE THE FILTERS,
AND JUST DO INTUITIVELY WHAT YOU WANT.
–ALEX ZIV (BFA Painting, 2012; MFA Painting, 2014)
PROPOSITION: WE BELIEVE IN
CHALLENGING CONVENTION.
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Work by Mario Ayala (BFA Painting, 2014)
PHOTOGRAPHY (BFA)
Photography at SFAI is a conceptual tool, a way to construct a
narrative, a means to document the world.
All forms of photography are fostered here, because we believe
that your ideas—not the medium itself—are the most important
aspect of the work.
SFAI is home to the first “fine art” photography program in the
country (founded by Ansel Adams), and we’re still the place
where groundbreaking images are made.
Work by Patrick Santos (BFA Photography, 2015)
Student-artists work in digital or analogue formats, from CMYK
to tintype. Issues of installation, scale, print substrate, and
audience interaction are considered and questioned.
In an image-saturated world, SFAI challenges artists to
define new image-making vocabularies.
PAST COURSES
++ Introduction to Photography and the Darkroom
++ Introduction to Photography as the Digital Medium
++ Documentary Photography: Art and Activism
++ Conversations with Contemporary Photography
++ Vernacular Landscape
++ Constructions of Space
++ Contemporary Tools and Practices
++ Photography after Software
Work by Jenna Jorgensen (BFA Photography, 2015)
Watch a video about photography
and the SFAI experience.
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PRINTMAKING (BFA)
Printmaking merges art processes—like drawing, painting, and
photography—to create unexpected imagery. SFAI print facilities are equipped for lithography, intaglio,
screenprinting, letterpress, and relief, as well as digital printing
and the making of artists’ books. Student-artists are challenged
to use these processes interchangeably to translate ideas
into print.
You may work with centuries-old techniques or new
technologies, choosing between, or merging, traditional and
experimental applications of media. PAST COURSES
++ Lithography I
++ Relief Printing I
++ Screenprinting I
++ Etching I
++ The Painterly Print: Monotype and Monotype Printmaking Process
Work by Barry McGee (BFA Printmaking, 1993) at Berkeley Art Museum
and Pacific Film Archive, photographed by Sibila Savage
++ Art of the Street
++ Letterpress for Artists
++ Conceptual Cartography in Print
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Work by Devon Quinn McCalla (BFA Photography, 2012)
A REALLY GREAT ARTIST AND INFLUENTIAL FRIEND OF
MINE, ASHLEY BOLINE, TOOK MY HAND AND WALKED ME
THROUGH THE FRONT DOORS OF 800 CHESTNUT WHEN I
WAS A VERY YOUNG MAN. I THINK ABOUT ALL THE WEIRD
KIDS AND TEACHERS, HOW WE ALL CAME TOGETHER IN SF
AT 800 CHESTNUT. IT’S ONE OF THE STRONGEST ART
COMMUNITIES I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH. SFAI IS
STEEPED IN SF ART HISTORY... THE REAL DEAL. ITS
LOCATION AND RELAXED CAMPUS MAKE IT ONE OF THE
LAST GREAT ART SCHOOLS IN AMERICA.
–BARRY McGEE (BFA Printmaking, 1993)
Barry McGee was a featured artist in SFAI’s recent exhibition
Energy That Is All Around: Mission School.
Work by Errol Sabinano (BFA Film, 2012)
++ Artists’ Books: Structure and Ideas
SCULPTURE (BFA)
Student-artists make diverse work ranging from objects in
ceramics and clay to site-specific installations and ephemeral
projects in light and sound. All of this is collected under
the gamut of sculpture, because all of these forms advance
concept, material, and intention in three dimensions. SFAI's facilities cover work in wood, metal, ceramics, plaster,
textiles, and assemblage. We are equipped to help you realize
any project you can dream up, and we encourage work that
stretches the boundaries of this always-fluctuating discipline.
PAST COURSES
++ 3D Strategies I: Beginning Sculpture
++ Cross-Media Ceramics Projects
Work by Oliver Hawk Holden (BFA Sculpture Candidate, 2016)
Sculpture at SFAI hinges on the interplay of the material and
conceptual. Questions of site, scale, place, and object take a
prominent role.
++ Nomadic Structures
++ Kinetic Sculpture: Inflatable/Light Workshop
++ The Unexpected Site
++ Seminar: Ecology of Materials and Processes
AT SFAI, I FOUND MYSELF IN THIS KIND OF ALTERNATE
REALITY IN WHICH THE SORTS OF IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
THAT I’D BEEN STRUGGLING WITH MY WHOLE LIFE
SUDDENLY DID NOT SEEM SO ALIENATING—IN FACT,
THEY WERE POINTS OF CONNECTION WITH PEOPLE. THIS
SCHOOL HAS TOTALLY TRANSFORMED THE WAY I SEE
MYSELF IN THIS WORLD AND THE POSSIBILITIES I HAVE
FOR THE FUTURE.
–SARAH-DAWN ALBANI (BFA Sculpture, 2014)
Work by Sarah-Dawn Albani (BFA Sculpture, 2014)
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PROPOSITION: WE BELIEVE THAT DEFINITIONS ARE
SUBJECTIVE AND EVER-EVOLVING. WE KNOW THAT
SFAI IS NO EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE.
TALK IT OUT: CRITIQUE
The critique process is central to an SFAI education. In all
studio courses, each student-artist has the opportunity to
present work for discussion. Though every critique is different
depending on the interests and practices of the faculty and
students, most will include analyses of concept and form,
artistic intention, and the relationship of the work to art
history and contemporary art. Regardless of the medium
that is being discussed, critiques help student-artists hone
critical thinking skills.
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Exhibition opening in the Diego Rivera Gallery, photographed by Joshua Band
History and Theory of Contemporary Art (HTCA) challenges
students to engage critically with global art and culture.
Emphasizing research, questioning, critical thinking, analysis,
and writing, HTCA at SFAI prepares students to become critics
and scholars of contemporary art history and theory.
THE CURRICULUM LOOKS AT QUESTIONS SUCH AS:
++ What is the role of the artist or art historian as interventionist or activist?
++ How have new technologies and globalization changed art or its analysis?
Students develop primary research methods, skills of analysis
and questioning, and hone individual lines of inquiry to drive
their research.
PAST COURSES
Studying art history in the SFAI environment uniquely
positions scholars to respond to contemporary art practices
in immersive and immediate ways. The cross-pollination of art
and scholarship here is palpable—students exchange creative
ideas in courses, exhibitions, collaborations, publications, and
research projects.
++ Global Anxieties: Sculpture’s Disappearances, 1957–1980
++ Dialogues in Contemporary Art: Theory and Practice
As an HTCA student, you are surrounded by art and artists—
every aspect of the campus is your research library.
++ Art Since 1945
++ Queer Visual Politics
++ Revolution in Our Lifetime: A Visual History of 1968 and Beyond
++ Bay Area Performance History: Lola Montez to Lil B
++ Selfie: Representing Autobiography in Contemporary Art
Work by Benjamin Ashlock (BFA New Genres, 2014)
HISTORY AND THEORY
OF CONTEMPORARY
ART (BA)
++ What is the relationship between art and power?
++ What connections can be made across times, places, and cultures?
Work by Wesley Larios (BFA Printmaking, 2014)
IN GOING TO COLLEGE, I REALLY WANTED A SELF-DRIVEN,
SELF-DIRECTED PROGRAM, AND IN MANY WAYS THAT’S WHAT
I’VE FOUND: THE FREEDOM TO ASK ANY QUESTION I WANTED.
YOU SHOULD COME HERE IF YOU WANT TO BE CHALLENGED TO
MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS AND THINK INDEPENDENTLY AND
CRITICALLY…. ART SCHOOL CAN BE SCARY, BUT I THINK THAT
THOSE PLACES OF FEAR ARE SOME OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE
PLACES AS AN ARTIST. THOSE PLACES OF INSECURITY, AND
UNCERTAINTY, AND AMBIGUITY, AND AMBIVALENCE—ALL THOSE
LEAD TO ORIGINAL THOUGHT AND IDEAS.
–BENJAMIN ASHLOCK (BFA New Genres, 2014)
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SFAI considers you an artist from the moment you step on
campus. The SFAI Core Curriculum—encompassing studio
work, art history, and liberal arts—brings student-artists into
the academic fold and enables them to customize the course
of study that interests them most.
Your first year at SFAI is all about experimentation and creative
growth, and SFAI encourages you to try many different kinds
of courses and art mediums. You don’t have to wait until you’ve
fulfilled foundation-year requirements to embark on an
interdisciplinary path here.
CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE: YOUR
GATEWAY TO SFAI
Anchored by the Contemporary Practice course, SFAI’s FirstYear Program cultivates skills in research, critical thinking, and
written/visual expression. The program challenges students to
enter a world of creative problem solving, with questions like:
++ How do artists translate raw experience into expressive form?
++ How does imagination connect with analysis to deepen meaning?
Contemporary Practices exhibition opening in the Diego Rivera Gallery, photographed by Eric Dyer
LET THE EXPERIMENTS
BEGIN:
YOUR FIRST
YEAR AT SFAI
++ What historical narratives support creative work?
++ How can an artist engage with society beyond the boundaries of art’s conventional spaces of studio, gallery, and museum?
++ What are the many ways to address audience and what does the audience bring to art?
Contemporary Practice also goes off site to introduce students
to the Bay Area art world—a vibrant arts nexus that is unique
to this city and region. Past excursions include meeting
curators at SFMOMA, visiting the Headlands Center for the
Arts, and getting to know San Francisco’s small alternative
exhibition spaces.
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PROPOSITION: WE EMBRACE RISK AND
UNDERSTAND THAT FAILURE IS INTRINSIC
TO LEARNING AND MAKING.
FIRST-YEAR PROGRAM
SAMPLE SCHEDULE: FALL
Global Art History (3 units)
English Composition A: Investigation and Writing (3 units)
Contemporary Practice (3 units)
100-level studio elective (3 units)
100-level studio elective (3 units)
LIBERAL ARTS
Liberal Arts at SFAI offers students grounding in the
humanities and the social/natural sciences, while also opening
up this terrain to the visual arts. With course topics ranging
from the mathematics of interactive media to urban
ecology to the politics of gender and sexuality, students delve
into concept-driven analyses of literature, history, philosophy,
theory, and criticism.
Liberal Arts Requirements: 3 units in each area of study
SAMPLE COURSES
English Composition A: Investigation and Writing
English Composition B: Nonfiction Writing
++ Food, Culture, and Society
++ Animal(s) and Human(s)
++ Pop Culture and American Identity Formation
STUDIO COURSES
BFA students take 72 units in studio courses of the 120
required to graduate. Of the studio units, 36 are taken in
electives across any of the major disciplines—Art and
Technology, Film, New Genres, Painting, Photography,
Printmaking, and Sculpture—and the remaining 36 are taken in
the student’s major. This structure provides nearly
boundless opportunity for experimentation, and encourages
each student-artist to create a pathway of study that is as
individual as each artist.
Work by Nino Galluzzo (BFA Art and Technology Candidate, 2015)
SAMPLE SCHEDULE: SPRING
Modernity and Modernism (3 units)
English Composition B: Choose from courses like Emily
Dickinson and the Archive, The Essay as Gesture, Language as
Magical Action: Creative Writing for Artists (3 units)
100-level studio elective (3 units)
100-level studio elective (3 units)
100-level studio elective (3 units)
Humanities 200
Humanities 201
++ Antiquity to the Crusades: Violence and Eros from the Mediterranean to Baghdad
++ Ordering the Cosmos: Prophecy, Pilgrimage, and Sacred Landscapes
++ Divine Madness: On the Ecstasies of the Good
Science
++ Regenerative Design
ART HISTORY
Art history is continually re-examined through new research,
methodologies, and interpretations. SFAI’s required art history
courses equip students to think rigorously and critically about
cultural production across times, places, and societies. BFA
students complete 15 units in art history, including a course on
the history of their major.
++ City Creatures
++ Meat: Predator Economies
Mathematics
++ Numbers in Music
++ Systems, Networks, and Strategies
++ Global Art History (prehistory to the Middle Ages)
++ Mathematics and Computer Practices
++ Modernity and Modernism (the Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century)
Social Science
STUDIES IN GLOBAL CULTURES
This requirement may be fulfilled through a range of studio, art
history, social science, and humanities courses.
Critical Theory A
Critical Theory B
++ Radical and Revolutionary Theory
++ Trauma, Resilience, and Creative Practice
++ Mass Incarceration and Its Discontents
++ Contemporary Art Now (art in North America and Europe from 1950–present)
++ Introduction to Women’s Studies
++ Auditory Cultures: Music, Sound, and Space in Transnational Contexts
++ “Real Live Girl”: Theory and Politics of Gender and Sexuality
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FACULTY
SFAI's faculty members are here because of your work.
They are passionate. They are critical. They are quirky and
irreverent. They are acclaimed artists and scholars of every
stripe. They bring SFAI to life, and their pursuits are as varied
as SFAI's course offerings.
Want to make a feature film?
Find out about eco-systems and public art?
Craft a ceramic object?
Make a hyperrealist painting?
Plan a multimedia installation?
Render the human form?
Learn about a specific movement or historical period?
Whatever your interests, SFAI's faculty members are here
to help you push beyond artistic boundaries.
HERE’S A SELECTION OF
WHO’S ON CAMPUS:
SAMPADA ARANKE
Sam’s interdisciplinary art history lens leads student-artists
through compelling inquiries on performance theories of embodiment, corpses and corporeality, histories of dispossession,
radical print media, and black cultural theory.
CLAIRE DAIGLE
Claire is known for her idea-driven art history and critical
theory courses on color (and chromophilia); intersections
of fiction and art; and the wildly popular, atypical survey
Min(d)ing the Canon.
PAUL KLEIN
SFAI's Art and Technology go-to, Paul looks at how viewers
and media create meaning in specific cultural contexts.
TONY LABAT
Tony is SFAI's in-house conceptualist. His work in video,
photography, and social commentary has carved out a place
for New Genres practices locally and internationally.
ASUKA OHSAWA
Interested in pop art, anime, manga, or comics? Go to Asuka,
SFAI’s newly appointed assistant professor in printmaking.
LASSE SCHERFFIG
Want to think about the relationships between humans, machines,
and society? Talk to Lasse—an artist, scientist, and experimenter
who explores the world of cybernetics with wit and rigor.
LINDSEY WHITE
Lindsey keeps SFAI on the pulse of contemporary photography. An artist and co-founder of the infamous exhibition-making collaborative Will Brown, her work presents the impossible
in everyday life through the language of magic and comedy.
MEET THE REST OF THE TEAM
SFAI.EDU/FACULTY
VISITING ARTISTS
There’s a constant rotation of visiting artists and scholars on
campus. You can find them talking to students, presenting a
lecture, giving insight on the latest exhibition in the Walter and
McBean Galleries, or leading a collaboration off site. Our
visitors are an integral part of the community. They provide
direct access to the art and ideas of our time.
RECENTLY
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Alejandro Almanza Pereda
Aziz + Cucher
James Benning
Alice Channer
Anna Chave
Marcelo Cidade
Thomas Demand
Johanna Drucker
Karen Finley
Lisa Freiman
Michelle Grabner
Trenton Doyle Hancock
Alfredo Jaar
Isaac Julien
Nina Katchadourian
Paul Laffoley
Annie Leibovitz
Simone Leigh
Lucy Lippard
Jill Magid
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
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Carol Mavor
Richard Misrach
Takeshi Murata
Shirin Neshat
Kori Newkirk
Rashaad Newsome
Lucy Orta
Karin Sander
Carolee Schneemann
Allan Sekula
Anna Shteynshleyger
Paul Sietsema
Katrín Sigurdardóttir
Javier Téllez
Mierle Laderman Ukeles
Richard T. Walker
Jaimie Warren + Whoop Dee Doo
Wendy White
Lisa Yuskavage
Andrea Zittel
NICOLE ARCHER
Nicole chairs the BA Department. She can be found talking
about textiles and text, bohemianism, queer theory, feminism,
and tattoos, alternately.
LINDA CONNOR
Want to understand how to make a landscape sublime?
Go to Linda—SFAI's resident master of light and shadow.
CHRISTOPHER COPPOLA
Christopher makes zombie films with his students, sometimes
brings his cat to campus, and is generally a presence to
be reckoned with, brimming with creative energy for the
next big project.
DEWEY CRUMPLER
You can find Dewey philosophizing with students on the
meaning of life through art—his booming voice traveling across
campus, attracting mere passersby to his revelatory talks. In
less dramatic moments, he makes paintings that interrogate
globalization and cultural commodification.
Work by Asuka Ohsawa, Assistant Professor in Printmaking
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Work by Tony Labat, MFA Department Chair
SUPPORT FOR
STUDENTS
APPLY
SFAI provides transitional, academic, personal, and social
support to help students thrive at school and beyond.
SFAI’s admissions process is highly personalized. From day
one, you’ll be matched with an Admissions Counselor who will
advise you, help prepare your portfolio, and walk you through
the application process. We’re interested in you and who you
will become—and that interest begins with the very first inquiry.
ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTER (ARC)
REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL APPLICANTS
ARC offers academic advising, tutoring and student success workshops,
which provide students with the necessary support to stay on track with
their degrees.
++ Completed and signed application (find it at SFAI.EDU/UNDERGRADADMISSIONS )
++ $75 application fee (nonrefundable)
CAREER RESOURCES CENTER
BFA APPLICANTS (STUDIO ART PROGRAMS)
SUPPLEMENT 1: PORTFOLIO
SUPPLEMENT 2: ARTIST STATEMENT
Briefly explain the ideas and content of the work in your
portfolio. What factors have influenced your work? What do
you want to accomplish at SFAI? What artists or other sources
have influenced you?
BA APPLICANTS
(HISTORY AND THEORY OF CONTEMPORARY ART)
The Career Resources Center supports the academic, artistic, and
professional development of students and alumni. With the help of a
professional, students assess their skills, values, and interests; learn
industry standards; receive one-on-one career counseling; and make
connections.
++ Official high school/secondary school transcript(s) SUPPLEMENT 1: CRITICAL ESSAY
or CHSPE/GED certificate
ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES OFFICE (ASO)
++ Official college transcripts from all previously INTERNATIONAL
attended colleges or universities APPLICANTS
SFAI values its diverse community, and applications
(transfer students only)
ASO ensures that students with documented disabilities have equal
opportunities and provides reasonable accommodations. SFAI
recognizes disability and learning differences as vital aspects of
diversity and has developed policies and procedures that facilitate
self-awareness, self-determination, and self-advocacy.
COUNSELING SERVICES
Counseling Services provide personal, confidential counseling during the
academic year for all registered students, free of charge.
SFAI DIVERSITY STATEMENT
SFAI strongly believes that a rigorous artistic and intellectual
community is enriched by diversity and inclusion. SFAI promotes artistic
and intellectual freedom by fostering environments that value our
students, faculty, and staff, and provide all community members with
a respectful and challenging space in which to address divergent opinions and ideas.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT
SFAI.EDU/DIVERSITY
++ One recommendation letter
from international students are highly sought.
SUPPLEMENT 1: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEST
For non-native English language speakers the TOEFL or IELTS
test is required.
TRANSFER APPLICANTS
Transfer students can begin at SFAI during both fall and spring
terms. We encourage all transfer students to apply regardless
of the amount of coursework completed at other institutions.
Want to know how many of your college credits will transfer
in? Call your Admissions Counselor and ask for an unofficial
evaluation of your transcripts.
Transfer credits from regionally accredited colleges and
universities may be accepted on a course-by-course basis
for a maximum of 60 credits (a BFA or BA degree requires
120 credits):
++ 36 units in Art History and Liberal Arts combined
++ 12 units in Major
++ 24 units in Elective Studio, with a maximum of 9 General Elective units
GET THE DETAILS YOU NEED
SFAI.EDU/UNDERGRADADMISSIONS
SFAI Courtyard, photographed by Joshua Band
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CAN’T WAIT FOR ART SCHOOL?
FINANCIAL AID
SFAI’s PreCollege Program for artists ages 16–18 is a
four-week, four-college-credit course of study that prepares
students for art college.
Your education is an investment in your future, and SFAI is
committed to helping you find the resources you need. Eighty
percent of SFAI students receive some form of financial aid,
and SFAI pledges over $7 million to students each year. In
addition to SFAI aid, students are considered for federal and
state grants, loans, and work study.
GET READY
SFAI.EDU/PRECOLLEGE
To be considered for any institutional aid, domestic students
must file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
The FAFSA can be filled out online at fafsa.ed.gov, and
SFAI’s FAFSA code is 003948. California residents should complete the FAFSA and submit their GPA verification form.
LEARN MORE
SFAI.EDU/FINANCIALAID
VISIT
SFAI’s campus pulses with discovery, questions, and bold ideas.
Experience it in person.
Schedule a tour with your Admissions Counselor or join us for
an admissions event. You can also combine your tour with an
informal portfolio review.
START THE DIALOGUE + SCHEDULE TODAY
SFAI.EDU/VISIT
800.345.SFAI
[email protected]
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Work by Dallas Holfeltz (BFA New Genres Candidate, 2016), photographed by Eric Dyer
All applicants are automatically considered for scholarships
based on portfolio and grades.
SFAI Sculpture studio, photographed by Yu Sheng
SCHOLARSHIPS