News: What's in store for the former S.F. Art Institute
Andrea Jesse
S.F. Art Institute’s new owners select architect to modernize its campus. Here’s his vision
Modernizing a beloved city landmark, such as the former San Francisco Art Institute, is no easy feat — particularly when the goals are to address deferred maintenance and to ensure future relevance and functionality without overriding layers of history and undoing past “edits” while returning to core concepts. Then, there are the constraints of the city’s historic preservation guidelines.
But for culture-oriented architects, complex historic design challenges offer an intriguing opportunity to stretch the imagination and to connect with chapters in San Francisco’s history that make the city special.
From that perspective, San Francisco architect Mark Jensen just landed a plum project: the revitalization of the art institute’s fortresslike former campus in scenic Russian Hill. Jensen, founding principal of Jensen Architects in South of Market, and his team have been hired to reimagine the 2-acre deserted art school at 800 Chestnut St. for its next act, the property’s new owner, BMA-Institute, confirmed.
A new nonprofit, BMA-Institute is composed of local arts leaders and backed by philanthropist and entrepreneur Laurene Powell Jobs. The team purchased the campus earlier this year after the art institute — its tenant of nearly a century — declared bankruptcy.
The scope of the project is both aspirational and nebulous. BMA-Institute has said that it wants the campus to nurture both local and international arts communities, spark a “renewed arts renaissance” in San Francisco, which has been struggling to redefine itself in the wake of the pandemic, and bring visitors back to the preserved $50 million Diego Rivera mural that is the crown jewel within its aging walls.
But details on how that vision will be translated into design are still being hashed out — as is the campus’ new name, which is expected to be announced by the end of the year.
“It’s really too early to know what can be done there,” said Stephen Beal, the former president of the California College of the Arts and an adviser for BMA-Institute. “There are a lot of ideas that have been talked about, but it’s still very much in formation.”
Along with Beal and Powell Jobs, the BMA advisory group also includes: Brenda Way, the founder and artistic director of San Francisco’s ODC/Dance; David Stull, the president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Lynn Feintech, the president of the Los Angeles-based Liberty Building Co.; and Stanlee Gatti, an event designer and former president of the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Since the $23 million purchase was finalized in February, a bulk of the group’s energy has gone into “touring architects” and deciding whom to partner with, said Beal, adding that he is “thrilled” with Jensen, whom he met as a faculty member at CCA.
“I was really impressed with his ability to connect with people and also his sensitivity to the kinds of spaces that support the creative work that artists do,” Beal said. “This sensitivity, I think, will play a big part in helping to determine the future of the former SFAI campus.”
Beal was not able to put a value on the restorations required to bring the property up to code, as granular assessments are still outstanding, but said the maintenance work will be “significant.”
Jensen’s work has touched a long list of San Francisco institutions and open spaces. They include the David Ireland House in the Mission District; the Minnesota Street Project, a warehouse in Dogpatch that provides gallery and workspace for artists; the Willie “Woo Woo” Wong Playground in Chinatown; and the CCA graduate center in Showplace Square.
He’s also intimately familiar with SFAI’s former campus.
“I have been going to this property for decades, literally, as an architect, as someone interested in the arts, as someone going to lectures over there,” Jensen said. “Whenever I had out-of-town tourists visiting, it was one of the first places I would take them because it’s an amazing site. It has beautiful buildings. It’s got a phenomenal view. I think it’s one of the most magical ensembles of buildings anywhere in San Francisco.”
SFAI moved to Russian Hill in 1926. The campus is made up of an original Spanish colonial style building designed by Bakewell & Brown and a 1960s brutalist addition designed by Paffard Keatinge-Clay. It was declared a historic landmark in 1977.
Jensen said that he could not answer whether the newer structure could eventually be turned into housing for a potential artist-in-residence program that has been floated by the campus’ new owners.
“We’re not talking about housing now — that’s not on the table at the moment,” said Jensen, adding that the focus for new construction is “primarily on interior interventions” to accommodate its future programming. Any exterior changes, at least as contemplated at the moment, will be “light touch,” he said.
Jensen described the planned work as “editing.”
“There are a lot of changes that have been made to the property over the years that I think might detract from some of the core concepts, but there’s also a lot of great stuff that you don’t want to over restore,” he said. “I think that’ll be one of the challenges.”
For now, his team is in “discovery” mode: They’re pouring over the extensive documentation that’s been gathered about the campus over decades, its history and architecture, as well as initial assessments of the maintenance work that needs to be done. There have been some initial “exciting” discussions about programming, he said.
There will likely be some “specific, technical, specialized” spaces for shops or labs, Jensen said, but added that it’s important to maintain “universal space” that can be many different things — a studio, a gallery or workspace.
“I’m most interested in spaces that are flexible, that don’t preclude future creative occupancy. If there’s any project type that really should be kept at the forefront in one’s mind, it’s arts-related activities,” Jensen said. “You never know what’s going to happen in the future — so we need spaces that have strong character, but spaces that don’t limit what you can do over time.”
Reach Laura Waxmann: laura....@sfchronicle.com
