旧金山艺术学院 (San Francisco Art Institute)一直是美国北加利福尼亚州艺术界近150年来的中坚力量，也拥有众多知名艺术家、音乐家和电影制作人校友包括Kehinde Wiley, Jerry Garcia, Annie Leibovitz和Kathryn Bigelow等等。因新冠状肺炎疫情影响，旧金山艺术学院近日由于财务困难和无法确定未来合作伙伴，将面临着在2020年5月毕业季后暂停运营的不确定性。
Gordon Knox, president of the San Francisco Art Institute, stands in the institute’s new campus inside the historic Herbst Pavilion at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in 2017. Photo by Leah Millis. Courtesy The Chronicle
美国时间2020年3月23日（周一），旧金山艺术学院校长戈登·诺克斯（Gordon Knox)和学院董事会主席潘·罗克·列维（Pam Rorke Levy)在给所有学生和教职工的公开信中提到，旧金山艺术学院将会在5月所有毕业生完成毕业之后暂停所有课程和秋季学期招生。旧金山学院此前与湾区最好的两所高等教育机构的谈判由于新冠状病毒肺炎的影响而陷入了僵局，“尽管作为艺术机构，旧金山艺术学院正面临着一系列新的挑战，但是这些挑战将迫使我们不断发展，在未来的数月甚至数年中，我们的目标是再次重生，可能是为新时代而采取新的方式。” 因新冠状病毒肺炎所带来的恐慌和股市暴跌，使得控制风险成为了很多国际艺术机构和大学的首要任务。尽管旧金山艺术学院对可实现的战略伙伴关系充满期待和希望，但疫情所带来的全球化影响可能会拖慢一切步伐。
Pete’s Cafe at the San Francisco Art Institute. Photo by Vince Maggiora. Courtesy The Chronicle
尽管旧金山艺术学院很有可能再难以一个独立学院重新开放，但董事会主席Pam Levy仍在接受《旧金山纪事报》的采访时表示出一些积极的期待。Levy称：“我们（的规模）可能会变小，可能会合并成一个校园。我们也可能会与其他院校机构建立合作。但无论如何我们会继续下去。”
The San Francisco Institute (SFAI), remains to be a critical force among the art scene in Northern California for nearly 150 years, and it also has quite a few notable artists, musicians and filmmakers as alumni including Kehinde Wiley, Jerry Garcia, Annie Leibovitz, Kathryn Bigelow and so on. For the influence of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the San Francisco Institute will be confronted with the survival issue after the institute’s efforts to merge with other educational institutions cannot be developed further. It is uncertain that it can continue operating after the graduation in May.
On 23 March (Monday), Gordon Knox, President of the San Francisco Institute and Pam Porke Lvey, Chair of its Board Trustees, indicated in the open letter to all students and faculty members of, SFAI will cease classes and admission of news students for the fall of 2020. The negotiations that SFAI has conducted with “two of the Bay Area’s finest institutions of higher learning” reached an impasse for the influence of COVID-19 pandemic. “Today we as an institution are facing a new set of challenges that will force us to evolve, and in the months and years ahead our goal will be to reinvent ourselves once again, perhaps taking a new form for a new era,”Knox and Levy wrote in the open letter. The coronavirus scare and following nosedive in the stock market, have made limiting possible risks become the priority for most international art institutions and colleges. Although SFAI has remained exception in the reliable partnership to maintain its financial survival, but the global influence from COVID-19 pandemic might slow down any pace of development.
While there is a strong possibility that SFAI will never reopen as an independent institution, Board Chair Pam Levy remained somewhat optimistic in an interview with The Chronicle. “We might be smaller. We might be consolidated to one campus. We might be in partnership with another institution, but we will continue,” Levy said.
Edited by Sue and Emily Weimeng Zhou
References:
1. Zachary Small, San Francisco’s Top Art School Plans Closing After Almost 150 Years, http://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/arts/design/san-francisco-art-institute-coronavirus.html
2. Madeline Wells, San Francisco Art Institute likely to close due to coronavirus impact,
https://www.sfgate.com/education/article/San-Francisco-Art-Institute-is-likely-to-close-15154496.php;
3. Jasmine Weber, Renowned San Francisco Art Institute Is Closing Due to Rocky Finances, https://hyperallergic.com/549305/sfai/
4. Nancy Kenney, San Francisco Art Institute considers suspending classes after May graduation, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/san-francisco-art-institute-considers-suspending-instruction-after-may
