SFAI's library is an inspiring setting for research and study, with vaulted ceilings, historic murals, and views of the Bay.
For more information, contact the Library (library@sfai.edu)
VIST THE LIBRARY
The Library provides:
Hours: Monday–Friday | 10 am – 5 pm (or by appointment).
Phone: 415.749.4562
The Library’s Film + Video collection consists of artists’ works, lectures, documentaries, animation, film history and more. Highlights of the collection include seminal works in the history of performance art, over eighty films by George Kuchar, and work by students in SFAI’s New Genres department, from the 1980s on. Videos and DVDs are available for viewing in the library, and can be checked out for classroom use by faculty.
Lectures given as part of either the Visiting Artists + Scholars Lecture Series or the Graduate Lecture Series are recorded and available for viewing approximately one week after the date of the lecture. Lectures and performances recorded prior to the year 2000 can be found in the audio tape collection.
The library houses a collection of over 300 16mm films. Highlights of the film collection include works by pioneering experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner, Gunvor Nelson, Carolee Schneemann, Sidney Peterson, Maya Deren, Lawrence Jordan, Hollis Frampton and many others, as well as a number of works important in the development of early cinema.
The library’s artists’ book collection includes both unique and classic titles from the 1950s through the present. The collection is particularly strong in conceptual and humorous titles of the 1960s and 1970s by artists such as Bruce Nauman, John Baldessari, Don Celender, Alan Kaprow, Michael Snow, and Chris Burden. Many of the best artists’ books in the collection are donated by students who participate in the annual library-sponsored Artists’ Book Contest. The collection is also well represented by alumni bookmakers such as William T. Wiley, Jess, Fred Martin, Mike Mandel, Larry Sultan, Nell Sinton, Faune Yerby, Vernon Bigman, Anthony Aziz, Charles Hobson, Richard Shaw, Justin Walsh, and Jason Rhodes.
Other highlights include:
RARE BOOK COLLECTION
The library’s rare book collection has been growing steadily for more than 100 years, thanks to the efforts of faculty, staff, students, trustees and donors. The collection is eclectic in nature, containing titles as diverse as Alfred Stieglitz’ Camerawork, Arthur Pope’s 1938 six volume Survey of Persian Art, Brinkley’s 1897 Japan, Owen Jones’ 1868 The Grammar of Ornament, Racinet’s original L’Ornement Polychrome, and Joseph Albers’ Interaction with Color.
Other highlights include:
RARE PERIODICALS
From a full set of Steiglitz’s Camera Work to an issue of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy featuring performance artist Karen Finley, the library houses an extensive collection of art-related periodicals and scattered magazines dating from as far back as 1877. Included are complete runs of such scholarly publications as October, the History of Photography, the Archives of American Art Journal, Ars Islamica, Art Journal, Camera Obscura, Jumpcut, Millennium Film Journal, and the Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts.
Other highlights include:
INSTITUTIONAL ARCHIVES
The SFAI archives contain a wealth of primary source material pertaining to art, culture, and American arts education in the 19th through the 21st centuries.
The archival collection includes manuscripts, account books, minutes, photographs, broadsides, clipping files, and ephemera documenting the history of the San Francisco Art Association (1871–1961), the California School of Design (1874–1916), the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art (1893–1906), the San Francisco Institute of Art (1907–1916), the California School of Fine Arts (1916–1961), the San Francisco Museum of Art (1916–1935), the Palace of Fine Arts (1915–1924), and the San Francisco Art Institute (1961–Present).
Collections include:
*These designated collections are available on microfilm through the Archives of American Art.
The SFAI Archives are available to qualified researchers by appointment. Registration forms must be completed prior to use of materials. Reproduction of materials must be approved by the Archivist.