黑料不打烊

The San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2021 with 鈥婣 Spirit of Disruption, 鈥媋n exhibition that reflects on the school鈥檚 profound and sustained influence on contemporary art and highlights the contributions of generations of diverse artists and individuals often overlooked in the historical narrative of SFAI. 鈥婣 Spirit of Disruption鈥� includes the work of more than thirty alumni and faculty from the 1960s to the present; a dynamic media installation drawn from SFAI鈥檚 vast archive; and a section dedicated to artist model Florence 鈥淔lo鈥� Wysinger Allen, the subject of countless paintings, sculptures, and drawings made at the school from 1933-1997.

Also launching in conjunction with the March 19th exhibition opening and anniversary day is a 10-episode podcast and web series, created by the exhibition鈥檚 curators, that reveals new stories and old gleaned from the archive.

Founded in 1871, generations of important artists, scholars, and thinkers from around the world have been educated and have taught at SFAI, formerly the California School of Fine Arts. This spirited and often unruly community established SFAI as a microcosm of the Bay Area art world鈥攁 place dedicated to the interdisciplinary, where ideas and education reach beyond formal boundaries. This radical creativity played a central role in many influential contemporary art movements, including Abstract Expressionism, Bay Area Figuration, Color Field, California Funk, and the Mission School, affirming the school鈥檚 long-standing impact on the international art world.

A Spirit of Disruption鈥� features a selection of artworks and archival materials that celebrate the ethos and expansive ecosystem of the institution. Curated by longtime SFAI employee and educator Margaret Tedesco together with recent faculty member Leila Weefur, whose first curatorial project for SFAI was bringing the work of contemporary Black artists into a 2019 exhibition about the Black Panthers, 鈥婣 Spirit of Disruption b鈥媜th embraces and takes a departure from the school鈥檚 wide-ranging history, advancing a new breadth of perspectives past, present, and future.