California Academy of Studio Arts to Open on Former SFAI Campus
California Academy of Studio Arts, a new experimental educational institution in the vein of the renowned Black Mountain College, is set to open on the historic campus that was the longtime home of the now-shuttered San Francisco Art Institute. Known as CASA, the school will offer a class of up to thirty emerging artists a yearlong studio-based program. The free, unaccredited program is intended to foster experimentation and collaboration among its participants and will supply them with a wide range of resources, including studio space, workshops, mentorship opportunities, and platforms for public engagement.
CASA is the brainchild of philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the school’s founder and board president. Jobs, the widow of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, in 2023 spearheaded the creation of the nonprofit BMA-Institute to purchase the SFAI and the landmarked 1931 Diego Rivera mural contained within its two-acre campus after the bankrupted art school closed following a 151-year run. Rebranded CASA, the nonprofit will additionally engage its surrounding community through exhibitions, performances, and artist talks.
“The Bay Area has long been a magnet for remarkable creativity and innovation,” said Jobs in a statement. “CASA builds on the legacy and the bold spirit of Black Mountain College, supporting artists through connection, experimentation, and care. We are creating a dynamic experimental program that will be informed by the artists themselves.”
In the process of establishing the school, CASA launched a series of so-called listening forums, led by Abbye Churchill, the nonprofit’s director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, with the goal of gaining insights that would help shape the institution’s forthcoming program. Those will be collected in a forthcoming publication. CASA additionally announced a planned restoration of campus that will remain respectful of the school’s original Spanish colonial-style architecture while including private studios, shared workshops supporting a range of media, and communal areas for cooking, dining, and gathering. New public spaces will include a café and an art bookstore. CASA will also restore public access to the Rivera mural, The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City.
