March 3, 2009

Dear SFAI Alumni,

As you well know, the national arts community is small, and the San Francisco Art Institute is always the subject of speculation and interest. Over the last several months I have met with faculty, students, alumni, and supporters, and sent out a series of updates, all in an effort to keep you informed about SFAI’s response to the unfolding global economic crisis. I want to begin by assuring you that SFAI not only will endure, but will continue to lead as one of the world’s great colleges.

At the heart of our work remains the unshakable commitment to the quality and integrity of our students’ experience and to the overall excellence of the institution. These things continue to guide our thinking and our work. At the same time, we are living through extraordinary times that require new ways of thinking about the very shape of the institution. 

Response to the Economic Downturn

Since the beginning of the year, the economic crisis gripping the world has only deepened. Like most cultural and academic institutions today, the San Francisco Art Institute has been affected by the tightening credit situation, the drop in value of its endowment, and rising costs. We have taken a proactive and comprehensive approach to addressing the larger economic situation in order to prevent deficit spending, to ma intain the endowment, and to create a sustainable future. It remains our assumption that the broader economic crisis will continue for some time and that we must move decisively to address this changed world. As a result, we took action rapidly and purposefully to align our income and expenses.

Over the last eight months, this included a group of related efforts. You will understand how difficult these steps were and remain, but each was necessary for not simply navigating the downturn, but in fact emerging as a much stronger institution:

Initiating temporary salary reductions for administration and staff on a sliding scale, with the highest paid employees absorbing the largest reductions (which range from 25% for the three senior administrators, including the president, to 0% reductions for those making less than 40k)

Temporarily suspending institutional contributions to the 403(b) retirement plan

For the interim period between fall and spring semesters, closing the SFAI campus from mid-December to mid-January, during which time all nonessential faculty and staff were on furlough

Permanently reducing the workforce by 10%, including reductions in all areas—faculty, staff, and administration

In this way, the current plan is intended to address both short-term cash needs and the long-term financial health of the school while remaining focused on both the quality of our students’ experience and continued excellence in the programs for which we are known.

The Horizon

T he actions outlined above support our overarching institutional strategic plan, which addresses the challenge of training artists for a new century and a newly globalized world. Our success is tied to our curriculum, newly restructured in 2006 with the introduction of the School of Studio Practice and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, and the successful launch of three new academic programs—History and Theory of Contemporary Art, Urban Studies, and Exhibition and Museum Studies—the first new degree programs in over twenty years. More recently, we have relaunched the Ceramics program, expanding studio courses to students, and are currently reformulating the department of Design and Technology into a School of Design, which will include Media Studies, to be introduced in fall 2010.

Enrollment and Support

The measure of our success is in our student enrollments, which remain strong. We met our goal for the current semester, and for fall 2009, we have already tripled our usual number of applications, due in part to innovative marketing and online-application processing. All indications point to a very strong fall. 

Also, our corporate and philanthropic giving has continued to expand, including a recent $500,000 pledge from the Allan Stone estate that will support the Painting department’s studios and programs. Through the support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation, the Artur Walther Foundation, the McBean Family Foundation, the Pilara Foundat ion, David Zwirner Gallery, and Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, SFAI is able to present to students and the community a world-class schedule of visiting artists, scholars, lectures, and exhibitions. 

Closing the Loop

This past December marked the fifth anniversary of my appointment as president of the San Francisco Art Institute. When I began in 2004, a respected colleague at another major art school and a senior finance person congratulated me on leading one of the great schools in the country, but he added, “It will take you five years and about that many million dollars to see it into a new era.” His words were prescient: it would take many years and real investment to see the school not only to a new prominence, but also to a sustainable form, one with a vital, innovative curriculum, stable enrollments, and genuine appeal for donors.

Now five years on, much has been accomplished, and, in fact, provides us a firm foundation on which to address the larger economic situation. I want to end by emphasizing SFAI as a community, a school, and individuals with different roles and responsibilities, but all engaged in a common project. SFAI is indeed navigating the larger economic crisis and will emerge stronger. But it is our collective willingness to embrace a different sort of institution, one deeply engaged with a changing world, that will make us thrive. I want to thank all of my colleagues, board, staff, faculty, and administration who, through their20creativity and commitment, have made sure that this future is very nearly here.

I also want to thank you, SFAI alumni, for your ongoing enthusiasm for the San Francisco Art Institute. Please know that I welcome your comments and ideas and can be reached via e-mail at president@sfai.edu.

Sincerely,

Chris Bratton

<This was posted by J. Menzies, pasted from an email message received from Chris Bratton to SFAI Alumni.  Please feel free to contact the administrator of this page for any questions or information.>