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The San Francisco Art Institute announced a national search this week for two full-time (tenure-track or tenured) faculty hires in studio art as part of a five-year strategic plan to attract and retain exceptional full-time faculty. Faculty appointments were made this past year in Film and History and Theory of Contemporary Art.

SFAI is presently seeking professional artists for faculty positions in Sculpture/New Genres and Printmaking. Individuals with exemplary exhibition records and prominent reputations in their fields, as well as dedicated teaching histories, are sought for these positions.

Regarding the faculty search, Rachel Schreiber, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, commented:

Building the faculty body is extremely exciting, and an important moment in the advancement of SFAI. In these two positions, we offer a fantastic opportunity for artists of the highest caliber to join our historic and innovative institution, drawing on their experience to prepare the next generation of SFAI alumni for a life in the arts.

The successful candidate in Sculpture/New Genres will posses the experience needed to teach students in one, or both, of these major disciplines, and will be fluent in the relevant discourses. Expertise in the relationship between contemporary art and emerging technologies in relation to these practices is highly desired.

The successful candidate in Printmaking will be prepared to instruct students in the material and technical skills required for studio production in areas of digital and traditional printmaking, and will be able to demonstrate familiarity with the relationship of printmaking to the broader fields of contemporary art and print culture. They will simultaneously demonstrate an expansive approach to concepts such as reproducibility, repetition, iteration, and more.

Both searches are open rank; appointments will be made commensurate with the candidates’ experience and standing. SFAI faculty teach at all levels of the curriculum, from first year through MFA. Participation in institutional service and academic leadership are required.

Application instructions and position details can be found at www.sfai.edu/work-sfai. Priority will be given to applications received by January 6, 2014.

About the Programs
New Genres at SFAI has its roots in the major conceptual and disciplinary shifts of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the proliferation of video, performance, installation, land, and environmental art. New Genres is conceptually driven, with a core value of experimentation. Initially founded as a department of “Performance/ Video,” New Genres students continue in this tradition while also expanding to all imaginable forms of practice.

Sculpture at SFAI comprises three varied areas of emphasis, inviting individual or hybrid practice: 3D media/practice; kinetics; systems and environments. Additionally, SFAI houses a vital ceramics program, while also offering facilities for work in wood, metal, plaster, fabric, and electronics. Regardless of the material support, the curriculum fosters interdisciplinary experimentation, site-specific strategies, and environmentally and socially conscious investigations.

Printmaking at SFAI emphasizes an exploration of technique alongside historical and cultural contexts. Students are challenged to use processes creatively to translate conceptual ideas into print. The department also fosters a sense of community and collaboration in order to investigate what it means to work in a “democratic” art form. Value is also placed on the role of print in contemporary society and on discourses of digital print culture.

About the San Francisco Art Institute
Founded in 1871, the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education in the practice and study of contemporary art. As a diverse community of working artists and scholars, SFAI provides its students with a rigorous education in the fine arts and preparation for a life in the arts through an immersive studio environment, an integrated liberal arts and art history curriculum, and critical engagement with the world. Committed to educating artists who will shape the future of art, culture, and society, SFAI fosters creativity and original thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary context.

SFAI strongly believes that a rigorous artistic and intellectual community is enriched by diversity and inclusion. SFAI promotes artistic and intellectual freedom by fostering environments that value our diverse students, faculty, and staff, and provide all community members with a respectful and challenging space in which to address divergent opinions and ideas. The full SFAI Diversity Statement can be found at: www.sfai.edu/sfai-diversity-statement.

SFAI offers BFA and BA degrees, MFA (academic year and summer options) and MA degrees, a dual MA/MFA degree, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, and a range of continuing education and public programs. The institution enrolls approximately 680 students in the degree program and employs 21 full-time tenure/tenure-track faculty, five emeriti faculty, and some 150 part-time faculty. Notable past faculty and alumni include Lance Acord, Ansel Adams, Kathryn Bigelow, Enrique Chagoya, Angela Davis, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Kos, George Kuchar, Annie Leibovitz, Barry McGee, Catherine Opie, Peter Pau, and Kehinde Wiley. Further information can be found at: www.sfai.edu.