San Francisco Art Institute

Founded in 1871, San Francisco Art Institute is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious higher education schools in contemporary art.
We boast an illustrious list of faculty and alumni in all areas of focus. Most importantly, we have consistently held fast to a core philosophy of fostering creativity and critical thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary environment. At SFAI, we educate artists who will become the creative leaders of their generation.
San Francisco Art Institute is dedicated to the intrinsic value of art and its vital role in shaping and enriching society and the individual. As a diverse community of working artists and scholars, SFAI provides its students with a rigorous education in fine arts and preparation for a life in the arts through an immersive studio environment, an integrated liberal arts curriculum, and critical engagement with the world.
The Accrediting Commission accredits SFAI for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
SFAI is a place of hidden histories, tucked into corners of the campus and carved into the walls. The past and present of making, living, and breathing art are here—a mix of concrete, epic views, labyrinthine hallways, people, and art.
The Diego Rivera Gallery, home to SFAI's historic Diego Rivera Mural, is a student-directed exhibition space for work by SFAI students. The gallery provides an opportunity for students from all academic programs to present their work or curate in a gallery setting to use the space for large-scale installations or to experiment with artistic concepts and concerns in a public venue. Students submit applications for exhibitions in November and March annually, and a jury of alumni selects the artists who will exhibit. Students may apply to have an individual show, participate in a group show, or curate a show. About 40 shows per year are scheduled, and close to 200 students exhibit each year.
Our degree programs are about much more than making or looking at objects. Art is embedded in the culture in a myriad of ways. Students work closely with faculty and peers—in-studio and liberal arts courses, and across disciplines—to strengthen modes of creative, visual, and analytical thinking essential for success.
SFAI's graduate degree programs allow you to define a course of study as an individual as you are. Intensive studio time, immersive theory and history courses, collaborative exhibition opportunities, one-on-one dialogue with practicing artists, an ever-changing roster of esteemed visitors, and professional opportunities in the field are all part of the norm.
Our courses and disciplines challenge conventions, embrace risk and push students to discover uncharted artistic terrain. The undergraduate degree trajectory is as individualized as each SFAI artist. Students use the disciplines to forge their study pathways and bolster the Core Curriculum with electives across mediums and fields. Through cross-disciplinary course work, independent studio time, dialogue and collaboration with peers and faculty, immersive history and theory courses, and exhibitions and lectures on campus, our undergraduate students create new ways of looking at and living in the world.
Artists founded the San Francisco Art Institute for artists in 1871.SFAI is a laboratory for art + ideas. Across two campuses, we offer undergraduate and graduate degrees. Our interdisciplinary curriculum and supportive community will catapult your creative career.
San Francisco Art Institute is home to students, faculty, and staff from more than 30 countries who make an enormous contribution to our campus. We remain committed to the safety, legal rights, and well-being of them and our entire community. Our commitment is to implement policies and protocols that ensure undocumented and underdocumented individuals on our campus, be they students, faculty, staff, or other community members.
San Francisco Art Institute was declared a Sanctuary Campus in March 2017. San Francisco is also a Sanctuary City. With the January 1 effective date of Senate Bill 54, California became the country's first Sanctuary State, with measures that prohibit police from asking people about their immigration status during routine interactions and prevent local authorities from acting as immigration agents.
Educating the next generation of artists, creating meaningful interactions between artists and society, and enriching the community through public programs that encourage the artist in everyone—it is all part of SFAI's mission and impact. When you make a gift to SFAI, you stand with us as a champion of artists and scholars who dare to push the boundaries of creativity, sparking meaningful experiences and bold ideas that shape our world.
Encompassing some of the most significant art movements of the last century, SFAI has historically embodied a spirit of experimentation, risk-taking, and innovation. Since 1871, SFAI has attracted individuals who push beyond boundaries to discover uncharted artistic terrain. With an ever-expanding roster of esteemed faculty and alumni, robust exhibitions and public programs, and a mission dedicated to the intrinsic value of art, SFAI is poised to expand upon the West Coast legacy of radical innovation grounds SFAI's philosophy for another century.