CCA appoints Michael Muscardini to Board of Trustees

Portrait of Michael Muscardini.

Michael Muscardini joins CCA’s Board of Trustees.

San Francisco, CA—March 27, 2023—California College of the Arts (CCA) announces the appointment of Michael Muscardini to its Board of Trustees for an initial three-year term. A graduate of CCA, Muscardini held a position as a lecturer at the college and served as the president of the Alumni Council for several years. He is currently the owner of Muscardini Cellars in Kenwood, California.

“Michael will be an excellent addition to our Board of Trustees, and we are thrilled to welcome him,” says Board Chair Lorna Meyer Calas. “A graduate of CCA’s BFA Printmaking program, Michael has remained a very active and generous alumnus of the college. He served as President of the Alumni Council from 1991–1994 and has been a partner in fundraising with alumni, helping with numerous campaigns over the past 20 years.”

“As a dedicated member of the CCA community for over 50 years, Michael’s deep knowledge of the college as a student, lecturer, alumni, and now a Board member, is invaluable to us,” says CCA President Stephen Beal. “His professional experience in his business endeavors and on the many boards he has served on will no doubt be an asset to our leadership team. We look forward to working with Michael as a new member of the Board of Trustees.”

"I have been involved with CCA for over 50 years, and I'm so honored to continue working with the college as a new Board of Trustees member," says Muscardini. "It's a fantastic art school and I am committed to doing my part in sharing CCA's story with the world."

About Michael Muscardini

Michael Muscardini is the owner of Muscardini Cellars, an award-winning winery in Kenwood, California. He is also the managing member for Muscardini LLC, where he and his partner operate a real estate development company. He was the co-owner of Creative Spaces, a successful general contracting firm based in the Bay Area, for 27 years until it was sold in 2004.

Muscardini graduated from CCA in 1972 with a BFA in Printmaking. Since that time, he has played an active role in the CCA community. He not only held a position as a lecturer at the college in the 1980s but also served as the president of the Alumni Council from 1991 to 1994. He has been involved in numerous campaigns over the past 20 years including chairing CCA’s Half Century Club. He continues to contribute to the school’s Muscardini Family Scholarship Fund.

Muscardini has served on numerous boards including the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association where he was the president from 1990 to 1992, the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Association where he was president from 2009 to 2012, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, and La Luz Center.

Michael Muscardini has two children and four grandchildren, and lives in Sonoma with his wife Kate Eilertsen, executive director for di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art. He holds dual U.S.-Italian citizenship and loves to travel and explore art. He enjoys creating opportunities for people to be successful.

About California College of the Arts

Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. Benefitting from its San Francisco Bay Area location, the college prepares students for lifelong creative work by cultivating innovation, community engagement, and social and environmental responsibility.

CCA offers a rich curriculum of 22 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs in art, design, architecture, and writing taught by a faculty of expert practitioners. Attracting promising students from across the nation and around the world, CCA is among the 25 most diverse colleges in the U.S. Last year, U.S. News & World Report ranked CCA as one of the top 10 graduate schools for fine arts in the country.

Graduates are highly sought after by companies such as Pixar/Disney, Apple, Intel, Facebook, Gensler, Google, IDEO, Autodesk, Mattel, and Nike, and many have launched their own successful businesses. Alumni and faculty are often recognized with the highest honors in their fields, including Academy Awards, AIGA Medals, Fulbright Scholarships, Guggenheim Fellowships, MacArthur Fellowships, National Medal of Arts, and the Rome Prize, among others.

CCA is creating a new, expanded college campus at its current site in San Francisco, spearheaded by the architectural firm Studio Gang. The new campus design will be a model of sustainable construction and practice; will unite the college’s programs in art, crafts, design, architecture, and writing in one location to create new adjacencies and interactions; and will provide more student housing than ever before.

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