Fine Arts

In the studio and classroom, we maintain a student-to-teacher ratio in the single digits to maximize opportunities for close instruction, mastery of technical skills, and productive dialogue. Students have the freedom to explore materials and interdisciplinary modes of artmaking while engaging in CCA’s fruitful critique culture. History, culture, politics, science, economics, psychology, religion, sociology, and much more are interwoven into the studio curriculum, encouraging deep thinking and innovation. You’ll gain practical skills and experiences, and refine your ability to research, write about, and critique works of art.

Meet the Dean of Fine Arts

Dean Sunny A.Smith investigates the cultural phenomenon of historical reenactment and the performative role of craft in the construction of identity. Their diverse studio practice integrates sculpture, traditional craft, photography, printmaking, and textiles, as well as modes of experimental performance and social practices. Smith has produced over 25 solo exhibitions, installations, performances, and artist-led participatory projects for venues such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Public Art Fund, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, The Arts Club of Chicago, and S!GNAL Center for Contemporary Art, among many others. Their work is held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Saatchi Gallery London, Linda Pace Foundation, and many other public and private collections worldwide.

Read reviews by Yizhou Zhuang and Evelynn Harra of Sunny A. Smith's exhibition The Compass Rose in Rewind Review Respond, an online forum where CCA students write about recent events and the ideas that affect their practice, communities, and fields of study.

Robust public programming

Our national and international networks are amplified by our lecture series and exhibitions. Open to all disciplines, our keynote lectures feature interdisciplinary artists, critics, scholars, and filmmakers, among many other practitioners, from the Bay Area and around the world. Recent guests include Léonie Guyer, Laura Poitras, and alumnus Hank Willis Thomas.

In addition to our public programming, students have opportunities to learn from diverse practitioners in CCA’s galleries, which host upwards of 150 exhibitions and artist talks each year. The nearby Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, a nonprofit exhibition venue and research institute that’s part of CCA, commits an entire year to reflecting on questions posed by a single artist. Students in the MFA in Fine Arts programs collaborate with the Wattis on exhibitions and publications as a part of their coursework.

Connect studio work to societal issues

We provide students with the hands-on tools, digital fabrication resources, and materials they need to experiment and create a cohesive body of work. On-site studio managers, who are artists and designers themselves, are available to provide safety and skills training, as well as to suggest alternative approaches throughout ideation, iteration, and final project stages. Students investigate larger societal issues, from identity and race to power and technology, through mediums and collaborative exhibitions that reflect who they are and what they want to argue. CCA’s legacy as a center for arts and crafts and social activism can be seen and felt in each one of our creative spaces.

Metal Fabrication and Welding Shop

Open to all students who have completed the required orientation, this shop specializes in clay and metal. Students have the space to work on large-scale projects and can use the shop’s free scrap metal when available. There are a variety of tools and equipment, including a plasma torch, drill press, mill, lathe, chop saw, spot welder, and manual slip roll for bending steel.

Upper Division Interdisciplinary Studio

Collaborative and topic-based, Upper Division Interdisciplinary Studio (UDIST) courses combine techniques and content from various disciplines at once. Course topics, which change regularly, challenge students to shift from a singular mindset to one that is all-encompassing and socially engaged. You’ll learn how to take studio-based practice out into the real world. Featured below are recent UDIST courses that leverage interesting, locally based nonprofits.

• The Peripatetic Wunderkammer: This experimental and performance-based course teaches students how to build a mobile media project that expands a San Francisco museum collection into public spaces throughout the city
• Animated Investigation: In collaboration with the Center for Investigative Reporting, students consider the documentary’s role within contemporary visual culture, working on projects that may involve animation, comics, motion graphics, photography, and more

Experience another culture

We encourage students to refine and expand their skills in new environments by studying in other United States cities or in another country. Some of our most recent study-abroad courses focused on the following themes.

• Life, Death, Art, and Ecstasy: Taking place in Reykjavik and rural areas along the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, this interdisciplinary course immerses students in Icelandic art, culture, and history
• Exhibition Brooklyn: A collaboration between CCA and Art in General, a 37-year-old nonprofit art space in Brooklyn’s DUMBO district, this course introduces students to artists and art world professionals in New York City through studio visits and one-on-one meetings