With a philanthropic investment of $123 million, CCA will:

1 – Build the college of the future, a maker’s laboratory steeped in sustainable practice

2 – Expand accessibility and excellence through student scholarships and faculty support

3 – Unleash creativity and change-making in the community by reinventing industry and neighborhood partnerships

Learning

CCA launched the two-year construction of Double Ground, the centerpiece educational facility of our expansion, in fall 2022. Designed by Studio Gang, an architectural firm noted for its innovative use of materials and commitment to environmental sustainability, Double Ground is a 90,000-square-foot complex for hands-on learning, an open and interconnected laboratory that is flexible and environmentally responsible.

Living

An essential piece of CCA’s expansion is creating affordable, on-campus student housing. At a time when the housing crisis is driving out artists and makers, CCA’s San Francisco campus will be a haven for creative young people to live in and shape the city. Unification introduced two new state-of-the-art buildings to CCA: Blattner Hall opened in fall 2018 and is located two blocks south of campus; and Founders Hall opened fall 2020 directly on campus and located adjacent to first-year studios. These two new residence halls accommodate 700 students (50% of CCA enrollment) in housing below market rate.

Advancing sustainability

Environmental responsibility is at the core of our campus design, construction, and operations. CCA is committed to addressing climate change and generating renewable resources on a platform that teaches and inspires the next generation of creative leaders to proliferate these practices. The following are sustainability systems and practices central to our new campus:

• CCA will harvest and store solar energy via a microgrid system with an operation goal of net zero.
• Smart controls will monitor everything from cooling and heating to ventilation to LED lighting, helping to cut energy consumption.
• CCA launched a comprehensive minor in Ecological Practices, enabling all CCA students to pair advanced working knowledge of “green” maker practices with their curriculum in art, architecture, and design.

Student scholarships and housing aid

To create the world we envision, we must invest in a richly diverse community of young artists and designers—one that represents students of many backgrounds, points of view, and talents. CCA scholarships and housing grants are key to realizing this vision.

Over 25% of CCA’s student population are first in their family to attend college and 37% come from low income households. These students rely on scholarships and CCA aid to earn their degrees. Overall, CCA and its generous donors provide 79% of students with scholarships and/or housing grants. Yet each year, the need outstrips our resources.

Faculty

CCA’s renowned practitioner faculty play a critical role in catalyzing the next generation of creative leaders. Fully 88% of CCA teachers are accomplished practitioners coming from their own firms, studios, and world-leading companies to the classroom to train and inspire students. CCA is committed to expanding support for faculty research and travel funds, endowed professorships and chair positions, and visiting faculty fellowships—vital needs for attracting and retaining a diverse and outstanding faculty in every area.

Our expanded campus will serve over 20,000 community members throughout the Bay Area.

CCA’s new campus is designed with community collaboration foremost in mind. Every day will be “open house” as neighbors, businesses, nonprofits, and schools come together to learn through making, create dialogue, and shape culture. CCA is a unique and valuable resource for our community, and in 2019 served over 10,000 people through social impact projects, design-thinking blitzes, craft-based maker workshops, and exhibitions of international contemporary art, as well as public lectures by distinguished creative professionals, innovative executive education, and industry partnerships. By unifying and expanding in San Francisco, our goal is to increase community engagement by 50%.

CCA brings the best art and design students from around the world to live, learn, and work in San Francisco and throughout the region.

Graduates are trained to cultivate intellectual curiosity, risk-taking, collaboration, innovation, compassion, and integrity and are at the forefront of innovations in technology, business, culture, and sustainability. They are highly sought after by companies such as Pixar, Disney, Apple, Intel, Facebook, Gensler, Google, IDEO, Autodesk, Mattel, and Nike, and many launch their own businesses. Alumni work is featured in major museum collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MoMA New York, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, SFMOMA, and Tate Modern.

CCA is building on 115 years of tradition, history, leadership, and experience as we take this next significant step to ensure our place as one of the most creative educational institutions in the country, located in one of the most exciting cities in our nation. Your gift will help turn this dream into a reality.

Now is the time.
San Francisco is the place.
And CCA has the vision.
Maker / Meets / Future

We invite you to join us.