Message from the Board
July 24, 2023
The SFAI Legacy Foundation and Archive has been notified by the SFAI bankruptcy trustee’s counsel that we are not to continue to work on our IP asset transfers. We have been informed that the archive was transferred without consideration and that a motion could be made to return the archive and IP to the bankruptcy estate. To avoid this situation, we are working with the trustee and any interested parties. We have tried unsuccessfully to obtain bankruptcy counsel pro bono and we are not in a financial situation to secure counsel otherwise.
We are cooperating with several attorneys representing groups interested in buying the former SFAI and who are interested in our assets. The potential purchasers have not been disclosed to us. We have allowed their counsel to tour the archive and have stated that we want to continue as an independent public service organization and to pursue our mission of making the archive available to the public. We are interested and hopeful that a buyer would be cooperative with us, but are not at a point to know if that is a possibility.
Based on the bankruptcy of SFAI and the creation of our foundation and the transfer of assets, our mission is at risk. We remain hopeful that we will have a future but want to be fully transparent of our current situation. We are grateful to all of our friends and supporters and will share any updates as they become available.
SFAI LF+A Board
Charles DeSantis, Gale Elston, and Katie Hood Morgan
July 24, 2023
The SFAI Legacy Foundation and Archive has been notified by the SFAI bankruptcy trustee’s counsel that we are not to continue to work on our IP asset transfers. We have been informed that the archive was transferred without consideration and that a motion could be made to return the archive and IP to the bankruptcy estate. To avoid this situation, we are working with the trustee and any interested parties. We have tried unsuccessfully to obtain bankruptcy counsel pro bono and we are not in a financial situation to secure counsel otherwise.
We are cooperating with several attorneys representing groups interested in buying the former SFAI and who are interested in our assets. The potential purchasers have not been disclosed to us. We have allowed their counsel to tour the archive and have stated that we want to continue as an independent public service organization and to pursue our mission of making the archive available to the public. We are interested and hopeful that a buyer would be cooperative with us, but are not at a point to know if that is a possibility.
Based on the bankruptcy of SFAI and the creation of our foundation and the transfer of assets, our mission is at risk. We remain hopeful that we will have a future but want to be fully transparent of our current situation. We are grateful to all of our friends and supporters and will share any updates as they become available.
SFAI LF+A Board
Charles DeSantis, Gale Elston, and Katie Hood Morgan
Welcome to the new home of the SFAI Legacy Foundation + Archive (SFAI LF+A), an independent non-profit formed to support the preservation of the San Francisco Art Institute archives, coordinate the proper transfer of its contents to a permanent home, and ensure future access. Our organization emerged from conversations with SFAI community members in the waning days of the school and we are dedicated to safeguarding the cultural legacy of SFAI.
The institutional archives of the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is an unparalleled resource, chronicling the 150-year history of the school and its vital role—as hub, incubator and repository—in the development of 19th, 20th, and 21st century art and culture. Central to this preservation effort are legendary SFAI archivists Becky Alexander and Jeff Gunderson. They are working with us to secure a new home for the archives which will ensure these irreplaceable materials are safe, accessible, and discoverable. Their work is bolstered by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) which supports archival processing and organization to facilitate scholarly research and public access.
Simultaneous to announcing our formation, we are also launching a major capital fundraising campaign. Our goal is to raise a minimum of $250,000 to outfit a permanent workspace where the archives can be safely stored and where Jeff and Becky can meet with members of the SFAI and Bay Area community–alumni, scholars, former staff and faculty–and share treasures of the archive. Future plans include: expanding the website to include a special archival resource page with historic images, documents, and related materials; continuation of the archival work above and beyond the NEH project, with a focus on digitization in particular; paid fellowships, public programming, publications, and much more!
We welcome gifts of any size. Find out more about the foundation and join our mailing list at the link HERE and click the red button below to donate today!
Thank you for being here with us! We are excited for what the future holds.
Warmly,
SFAI LF+A Board
Charles DeSantis, Gale Elston, and Katie Hood Morgan
The institutional archives of the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is an unparalleled resource, chronicling the 150-year history of the school and its vital role—as hub, incubator and repository—in the development of 19th, 20th, and 21st century art and culture. Central to this preservation effort are legendary SFAI archivists Becky Alexander and Jeff Gunderson. They are working with us to secure a new home for the archives which will ensure these irreplaceable materials are safe, accessible, and discoverable. Their work is bolstered by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) which supports archival processing and organization to facilitate scholarly research and public access.
Simultaneous to announcing our formation, we are also launching a major capital fundraising campaign. Our goal is to raise a minimum of $250,000 to outfit a permanent workspace where the archives can be safely stored and where Jeff and Becky can meet with members of the SFAI and Bay Area community–alumni, scholars, former staff and faculty–and share treasures of the archive. Future plans include: expanding the website to include a special archival resource page with historic images, documents, and related materials; continuation of the archival work above and beyond the NEH project, with a focus on digitization in particular; paid fellowships, public programming, publications, and much more!
We welcome gifts of any size. Find out more about the foundation and join our mailing list at the link HERE and click the red button below to donate today!
Thank you for being here with us! We are excited for what the future holds.
Warmly,
SFAI LF+A Board
Charles DeSantis, Gale Elston, and Katie Hood Morgan
Image: View from SFAI's Chestnut Street campus, photographed by Ansel Adams, c. 1939. Collection SFAI Legacy Foundation + Archive.
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.