The year is 1931. Diego Rivera stands before his massive fresco The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City. He surveys his work. It adorns a wall within the San Francisco Art Institute.
Here before you stands the San Francisco Art Institute. Founded in 1871 it was once one of the oldest art schools in the United States. It was the oldest west of the Mississippi River. For nearly 150 years it nurtured generations of artists.
The Institute’s history is rich. It began as the San Francisco Art Association. A small group of artists writers and community leaders formed it. Their aim was to promote art in the American West. They established a school and a museum. By 1874 the Association had 700 members. They had enough funds to launch their art school called the California School of Design.
Tragedy struck in 1906. The San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed the school. They rebuilt it. The school’s name changed over the years. It became the San Francisco Institute of Art then the California School of Fine Arts and finally the San Francisco Art Institute.
In 1930 Diego Rivera a renowned Mexican muralist created his iconic fresco here. This masterpiece now holds an assessed value of $50 million. It depicts the very creation of the mural itself. It includes portraits of people involved in its creation.
Many famous artists were associated with the San Francisco Art Institute. Ansel Adams founded its photography department in 1945. Notable instructors included Imogen Cunningham Dorothea Lange and Edward Weston. The school became a center for Abstract Expressionism. It played a vital role in the Beat Movement. The Bay Area Figurative Movement and the Funk art movement all originated here. The school embraced new genres like performance and video art. It was a hub for the punk rock scene.
The San Francisco Art Institute unfortunately closed in 2022. Financial difficulties led to its closure. The campus was later purchased by a non-profit. Their intention is to create a new arts institution. The legacy of the San Francisco Art Institute lives on. Its archives and its alumni continue to shape the art world.