.png)
Timeline
Background
​
2014 Board and President Desmarais announce $24 million capital campaign for 2nd Campus
2015 SFAI / Fort Mason Campus design completion $26.5 Million
2017 SFAI / Fort Mason Campus Opened Fall
2019 Board / President Knox initiative to endow Diego Rivera Mural, enact strategic budget cuts and merger negotiations to avert financial crisis
March 2021
​
March 18:
Hyperallergic Curators at San Francisco Art Institute Challenge “Same Old History” of “White Painter Dudes”
​
March 18:
SFAI 150 | A SPIRIT OF DISRUPTION Exhibition is on view March 19 - June 3, 2021. All Three Turns 2021 artists are included.
​
February 2021
​
February 9:
Hyperallergic Why Is the California Attorney General Investigating the San Francisco Art Institute?
​
February 2:
KQED The San Francisco Art Institute That Could Have Been
​
January 2021
​
January 27:
​
January 22:
The New York Times Chairwoman of San Francisco Art School Facing Budget Issues Resigns
SFist SF Art Institute Cleans House After Controversial Attempt to Sell Diego Rivera Mural
January 21:
SF Chronicle Datebook In tough times, S.F. Art Institute gets new president, completing overhaul of board
​
January 14:
The Guardian 'Heresy': historic art college's fate could hang on a Diego Rivera mural
​
January 11:
Live and Recorded Public meetings of BOS Land Use and Transportation Committee for City and County of San Francisco BOS Land Use and Transportation Committee
January 8:
UNIVISION brief segment Edición Digital: very short interview with Faculty Trustee María Elena Gonzalez
​
January 7:
El UNIVERSAL article San Francisco vendería mural que Diego Rivera pintó en 1931
El DIARIO Planean venta de mural de Diego Rivera en San Francisco
El SIGLO deTORREÓN Pondrían en venta mural de Diego Rivera
El COMENTARIO Podrían vender mural de Diego Rivera en San Francisco
Catherine Opie, SFAI Student to Alumni Open letter to the trustees of SFAI
​
January 6:
ADJUNCT FACULTY open letter to the community
SF Chronicle Datebook S.F. Art Institute’s Diego Rivera mural not being pushed for sale, board chair says
ARTFORUM SFAI Explores Controversial sale of Diego Rivera Mural
ARTnews Will The San Francisco Art Institute Sell $50 M. Diego Rivera?
Chris Manfield, SFAI Student Letter To The Editor
​
January 5:
The New York Times San Francisco’s Top Art School Says Future Hinges on a Diego Rivera Mural
​
January 4:
MISSION LOCAL Selling S.F. Art Institute’s Diego Rivera mural ‘would be a crime against art and the city’s heritage,’ says supe
​
January 1:
SF Chronicle UC regents become S.F. Art Institute’s landlord after paying off its debt
December 2020
December 30:
MISSION LOCAL article: UC Regents buy SF Art Institute’s $19.7M debt, are now school’s landlords — will SFAI’s Diego Rivera mural be next to sell?
ADJUNCT FACULTY open letter to the community
​
December 15:
Re-Imagine Committee Letter to the Board on the Diego Rivera Mural: LETTER OF APPEAL TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AT SFAI
August 2020
​​
August 19:
HYPERALLERGIC article: Debt Destabilized the SFAI. Could Your College Be Next?
​
August 13:
ARTnews: Amid Turmoil, SFAI Will Resume Offering Classes in Fall, Leaving Staff with Concerns
July 2020
​​
July 24th:
HYPERALLERGIC article: After Securing $4M in Donations, SFAI Will Remain Operational​
​
July 23rd:
EXAMINER article: SFAI restores degree classes, seeks subtenant for Fort Mason campus
KQED article: Students Suffer Whiplash as SFAI Decides to Offer Classes After All
artnet article: SFAI Has Reversed Its Plans to Wind Down Following a $4 Million Surge...
SFiST article: San Francisco Art Institute Saved, Maybe, For Another School Year
​
July 22nd:
DATEBOOK article: SFAI reverses course, retains teachers, invites students to return.
SFAI press release: San Francisco Art Institute Reinstates Degree Programs...
​
July 17th:
MISSION LOCAL article: Bank moves to foreclose on San Francisco Art Institute
​
July 13th:
Committee to Reimagine SFAI is announced in email to staff, students, alumni, trustees, trustees emeriti and faculty. Memorandum describing the Committee’s assignment
​
July 1st:
Full time faculty win grievance and keep contracts through summer 2021
June 2020
​​
June 30th:
Doug Hall releases letter to the community
​
June 29th:
HYPERALLERGIC article: Time Capsule of Student Work
​
June 19th:
Last day for 13 staff members, additional last days coming June 30.
​
June 12th:
Summer teach-out begins for students who have between 6-21 credits to finish their SFAI degree. 34 students (79% of eligible students), 12 tenure track faculty + 6 adjunct faculty. are teaching in the Summer teach-out.
-Summer Intensive 1 - May 26 to June 5
-Summer 8-week session - June 8 to July 31
-Summer Intensive 2 - August 3 to August 14
ARTFORUM article: TEACH-OUT
DATEBOOK article: SFAI launches 150th anniversary in year of tumult and upheaval
​
June 9th:
Doug Hall joins the Board, Committee to Reimagine SFAI is announced.
​
June 8th:
ARTnews article: Faculty Speak Out Amid Epic Upheaval
​
June 4th:
All staff meeting- end dates announced, staff drastically cut.
​
June 3rd:
Through union bargaining, and government bailout PPP money, Adjuncts are given extended contracts until June 19 as severance pay.
​
June 2nd:
Registration for Public Education classes and Pre-college students and Y oung Artists opens
SFAI releases Striving for Solidarity, A Letter to the SFAI Community
May 2020
​​
May 16th:
Commencement Live YouTube Stream Emcee, Jeff Gunderson, Honorary Doctorate Degrees: Cathy Opie, Nao Bustamante, faculty speaker J. John Priola
​
May 15th:
Student Award Zoom Presentation, BFA and MFA virtual exhibitions open.
​
May 14th:
Graduate Student Town Hall
May 8th:
Spring 2020 semester ends, Adjunct contracts end and are laid off (unless any are teaching in the summer teach-out)
​
May 6th:
Staff and Faculty Town Hall: PPP loan, the May 23rd WARN Act date and employment status
April 2020
​​
April 28th:
Mike Henderson joins the Board
​
April 20th:
Alumni Town Hall addressing the state of the school and answering questions.
​
April 17th:
Faculty Town Hall addressing the state of the school and answering questions.
​
April 15th:
SFAI announces a reset.
Transfer out process for all continuing student is fully active
​
April 13th:
SFAI announces the board will vote in a closed session on April 14th to decide if or any degree programs will continue.
​
April 10th:
Immediate Needs at SFAI Community Petition goes out. 1700+ signatures collected
Student Town Hall, addressing the state of the school, protocols for commencement, transfers, and end of year exhibitions.
KQED article: SFAI Will Never Be What it Once Was
​
April 9th:
SFAI responds to student demands
​
April 6th:
CCA accepts transfer of continuing SFAI students with financial aid intact and housing for all continuing students.
​
April 3rd:
Board President announced Gordon Knox’s leave-of-absence from his role as President, and a newly formed leadership team would take place effective March 31st. Jennifer Rissler now CAO and Mark Kushner COO.
SF Chronicle article: president takes leave amid existential upheaval
​
April 2nd:
Public letter is released: A PUBLIC STATEMENT WITH REGARD TO THE SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE signed by over 60 art’s professionals in San Francisco
​
April 1st:
Artnet article: 5 Celebrated Artists Reflect on How the School Shaped Them
April 2nd: Public letter is released: A PUBLIC STATEMENT WITH REGARD TO THE SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE signed by over 60 art’s professionals in San Francisco
SFHeritage SFAI Announces Planned Closure
March 2020
​​
March 29th:
Student Demands sent out to the Board of Trustees and administration.
​
March 26th:
Alumni Town Hall, link. Alumni make it clear they do not want the school to close.
Faculty Town Hall
​
March 25th:
Architects NewsPaper article: expected to close permanently
Student Town Hall
​
March 24th:
NYTIMES article: Top Art School Plans Closing
ARTNews article: no clear path forward
Hyperallergic article: SFAI closing due to rocky finances
​
March 23rd:
Faculty Trustee Town Hall. School announces closure as merger fell through.
KQED article: SFAI Suspends Enrollment, Plans Layoffs
​
March 16th:
SFAI closes Fort Mason for shelter in place due to COVID-19.
​
March 12th:
SFAI announced campus closes on March 13th due to COVID-19.
​
​
​
​
​
​