Bay Area colleges could form one of nation's largest art schools
Thursday November 28, 2002By COLLEEN VALLES
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Two San Francisco Bay area art colleges may combine to form what would be one of the biggest art schools in the country.
The California College of Arts and Crafts and the San Francisco Art Institute have taken preliminary steps to form a new school that would aim to attract artists from around the world.
The boards of both schools voted last week to explore creating a new school trustees, faculty, staff and students still need to discuss curriculum, management and other issues. A preliminary decision could come within three months.
The new school would have about 2,100 students, making it the third largest in the nation behind New York's Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design.
The San Francisco Art Institute was founded in 1871 and focuses on fine art. The Oakland-based California College of Arts and Crafts was founded in 1907, and has fine arts as well as applied arts programs, such as architecture.
``The vision is a better education for our students and increased resources to provide that vision,'' said Simon Blattner, board chairman of the California College of Arts and Crafts. ``It will give us the kind of reputation to make us attract the scholars and faculty we need to accomplish that.''
The California College of Arts and Crafts has 1,400 students and the San Francisco Art Institute has around 650.
San Francisco Art Institute board chairman Charles Collins said the new institution would give students a wider range of educational choices than either school offers now.
``The advantage is that many of the walls that existed historically in various sectors of fine arts and applied arts have become less distinctive,'' he said.
Artists who have studied at the San Francisco Art Institute include painter Richard Diebenkorn and photographer Annie Leibowitz, and artists who have studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts include ceramic artist Robert Arneson and painter Raymond Saunders.
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