San Francisco Art Institute
800 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
T +415 749 4500
[email protected]
The Post-Baccalaureate (PB) Certificate in Studio Art is a one-year, full-time course of study that offers an intensive studio and critique-driven environment for practicing artists preparing to apply for an MFA program or for mid-career professionals looking to sharpen their focus and expand their studio work. The program provides a rigorous yet supportive context that combines independent work, critique-driven classes, and technical study.
Artists in the program have gone on to study at the nation’s most competitive MFA programs. They have been awarded fellowships and residencies from institutions around the world and have produced some of the strongest work in SFAI’s MFA program.
Post-Baccalaureate students are part of the larger graduate community at SFAI—a diverse group of 200 artists sharing space, context, and ideas to expand their individual practices.
Request more information about the Post-Baccalaureate program here.
SFAI’s philosophy
San Francisco Art Institute creates new ways of looking at and living in the world. Since 1871, SFAI has attracted individuals who push beyond boundaries to discover uncharted artistic terrain. A West Coast legacy of radical innovation grounds SFAI’s philosophy and fuels a learning approach that is gutsy and transformative. SFAI believes that art has intrinsic value.
SFAI faculty
SFAI faculty are accomplished cultural producers. They have received awards from NEA, Guggenheim, and MacArthur foundations; they exhibit internationally in museums, galleries, and biennials; and they are widely published in monographs and journals.
Notable faculty: Nicole Archer, Robin Balliger, Linda Connor, Christopher Coppola, Dewey Crumpler, Claire Daigle, Maria Elena González, Paul Klein, Tony Labat, Reagan Louie, Bruce McGaw, Asuka Ohsawa, Brett Reichman, John Roloff
Visiting artists and scholars
Post-Baccalaureate and graduate students at SFAI have unparalleled access to international figures in art and culture through a robust lecture series and exhibition programming in the Walter and McBean Galleries.
Recent guests include: Aziz + Cucher, Anna Chave, John Divola, Isaac Julien, Nina Katchadourian, Lucy Lippard, Kerry James Marshall, Carol Mavor, Jill Magid, Wangechi Mutu, Shirin Neshat, Allan Sekula, Mickalene Thomas, Andrea Zittel
About SFAI
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), founded in 1871, is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education in the practice and study of contemporary art. As a diverse community of working artists and scholars, SFAI provides students with a rigorous education in the arts and preparation for a life in the arts through an immersive studio environment, an integrated liberal arts and art history curriculum, and critical engagement with the world. Committed to educating artists who will shape the future of art, culture, and society, SFAI fosters creativity and original thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary context.
SFAI offers BFA, BA, MFA, and MA degrees, a dual MA/MFA degree, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, and a range of continuing education and public programs. SFAI enrolls approximately 680 students in the degree programs. Notable past faculty and alumni include Lance Acord, Ansel Adams, Kathryn Bigelow, Enrique Chagoya, Angela Davis, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Kos, George Kuchar, Annie Leibovitz, Barry McGee, Catherine Opie, Peter Pau, and Kehinde Wiley.