clubs and organizations

SFAI’s clubs and organizations represent a wide range of student experiences and interests.

The activities, events, and programs sponsored by these groups complement SFAI’s classroom experience by providing recreation, social engagement, and practical training for community service and leadership.

Take some time to view our list of active clubs and organizations. We encourage students to join a club that fits their interests and experiences or to start a new one. 

Registered Student Groups

To join or get more information about one of the groups below, contact the Student Affairs Office at 415.749.4524.

Chinese Student Association
SFAI Chinese Student Association offers its support to current Chinese students at SFAI. The student group is aimed at unifying all of the Chinese students and providing support with the transition into and throughout our academic career at SFAI. The group provides activities and events that support the inclusion of all Chinese students, demonstrate the Chinese student experience at SFAI both publicly and tangibly, provide a direct link t o our commonly shared experiences, and offer opportunities to discuss the adjustment to the SFAI culture. 

Advisor: Eddie Yuen
Founded: Fall 2010
Facebook page

Docuphoto
The DocuPhoto Group focuses on documentary photography. The group holds monthly meetings that show student and professional photographic projects. They are interested in salon-style interactive meetings that allow for attendees to have casual interactions with other photography professionals. At the end of every school year, the group is planning to organize a professional salon where gallery owners, magazine editors, and professional photographers will look at student portfolios.

Advisor: Darcy Padilla
Founded: Fall 2011

Film Salon
The SFAI Film Salon is a weekly screening series organized by SFAI film majors for the entire SFAI community. Held in the Lecture Hall on Tuesdays between 7:30-9:30pm, screenings will incorporate selections from the SFAI Library archive, and from a wealth of resources in the Bay Area and beyond.

Advisor: Kent Long
Founded: Fall 2010

Indigenous Arts Coalition
The purpose of the Indigenous Arts Coalition is to acknowledge and promote SFAI’s contemporary indigenous arts and multicultural students. Our mission is to build relationships, networks, and community through social gatherings, fund raising, and art activities. Please support our mission and be a part of our global unity and love.

Advisor: Rye Purvis, Housing Coordinator
Founded: Spring 2009
Facebook Page

The Tower 102.5 fm
The Tower is a radio station for SFAI students, faculty, and alumni. Through music, regular programming, art pieces, and information about local events and artists, The Tower will bring together a community. To listen to the stream, visit http://thetower.sfai.edu.

Advisor: Julio Morales, Visiting Faculty 
Founded: Fall 2008

Zeitgeist: Art Journal Critique
Zeitgeist: Art Journal Critique brings students together to discuss individual interests found in monthly contemporary art magazines in an analytical and critical way. At the bimonthly meetings each student will have a chance to present an article, artist, or specific interest for group discussion. The group will therefore become more informed about specific conversations that are taking place in the contemporary art community, as well as directly engaging in the conversation.

Advisor: Mark Van Proyen, Carlos Villa
Founded: Fall 2010

Bay Area Art Dash Association
Bay Area Dash Association is for all students who want to not only attend events in the Bay Area art scene, but explore and probe it with the intention of creating dialogue and raising questions. By meeting and travelling as a group, the club members can participate in critical conversation that fosters deeper relationships within the SFAI student body. Meeting and attending openings, events, museums, and galleries around the Bay Area will allow students to extend their networks beyond the institution and begin to see and create possibilities for their own intervention within the greater community.

Advisor: Bruce McGaw
Founded: Fall 2012

Soccer Club
The purpose of the soccer club is to create an athletic environment for SFAI students to engage with each other socially and physically outside of an academic and artistic environment. Soccer club is open to anyone willing to join with a positive attitude. It is our hope that we get to know each other and learn from each other on a differrent level than within our academic setting on campus at SFAI.

Advisor: Megann Sept
Founded: Spring 2012

The Outdoor Photographer
This group is an outdoor based landscape photo club. The Outdoor Photographer is to be used as a means for students to get out of the city to photograph and visit locations that would otherwise be difficult to get to without the knowledge of our Faculty Sponsor Lee Hunter, who is a very accomplished landscape photographer, as well as provide the transportation to these locations. This semester we are looking at going to Yosemite, and next semester we are looking at such locations as Lassen Volcanic National Park, Point Reyes and Muir Woods. Each trip the students/members will provide money to cover the costs of food and lodging while the club funds/budget will cover the car rental and gas associated with each trip (roughly 150-200 based on current gas prices). We will also be starting a blog with our images so that Lee and our other members who might not be able to make it can see the progress and critique the work as we go on these trips. We will also be applying for a group Diego show every spring semester to show the group accomplishments.

Advisor: Lee Hunter
Founded: Fall 2012

Consciousness of Death Society
The Consciousness of Death Society was conceived of during the spring of 2011 in the ferment of studio 9 New Genres 2, with the inimical Sharon Grace holding court. The founding members are all but gone from SFAI, but Consciousness of Death should not be. In considering the reasons for the reconfiguring and realigning the society the new members wished to continue the earlier iterations primary motivation of creating a visible space for those artists in our community whose work is performance based.  The need for frameworks that can support the explorations of performance work at SFAI outside of the classroom and in settings that offer opportunities for an engagement with a larger audience who can provide a “real world” interface cannot be overstated. The notion of passing this opportunity on in a variety of forms under the aegis of The Consciousness of Death Society is also central to the work we would like to do.  Performance as a means of passing information allows this possibility to be realized. With each individual who is asked to perform at an event and with each individual who observes another confronting themselves in the world through performance, a new member becomes conscious.

Advisor: Jennifer Locke
Founded: Spring 2011

Nudist Club
The purpose of this club is to provide a space where nudity can be explored outside the context of sex. We are interested in unpacking notions of privacy, sentience, shame, and automatic sexualization of the nude body and how these inhibitions affect our interactions with others. Our hope is that the club will host a specific type of honesty between its members, a type of honesty that is produced out of the vulnerability of physical and mental “nakedness.” Nudity is not the focus, rather it is the method in which we can bring about a primordial sense of self and community. We would like nudity to become the catalyst for human interaction.

Advisor: Amy Berk, Visiting Faculty 
Founded: Spring 2013

Poetry Club
The Poetry Club encourages creative writing, and presents students with an environment where they can feel comfortable sharing their own poetry.  It advocates self-expression through poetry, utilizing San Francisco, which is known to have fostered many of today’s great poets. We will have several events throughout the year, for students to perform their works to a larger audience. We will also discuss the works of many prominent poets, globally, to cultivate cultural awareness. Students will also be encouraged to present on a poet of their choice, giving the students the opportunity to teach as well. Poetry Club nourishes growth through written self-expression, building the courage for each student to tell their own story with their whole hearts.

Advisor: Christian Nagler, Visiting Faculty 
Founded: Spring 2013

Zine Club
Zines are a DIY approach for artists to self-publish their work. The aim of the Zine Club is to help artists improve their ability to translate their work into a printed format, whether through old methods of simple photocopying or with the help of new tools like InDesign. Digitally and physically sharing opportunities are discussed by means of online stores, bookstores, and events such as fairs. Members provide feedback for both content and format and collaboration is encouraged. This club seeks to push the boundaries on what a simple printed book can be and how artists can express their ideas.

Advisor: Tim Berry
Founded: Spring 2013

The Collaboration Drawing Club
The Collaboration Drawing Club opens up a venue for students to engage with their peers through developing diverse conceptual-based drawing projects. By exploring new styles and conceptual lines, students will develop a better sense of the mechanics of teamwork. Furthermore, the club will be a space for students to explore the potentiality of drawing by jumping out of their comfort zone. During the first semester, three projects will be established with a certain period of time for each. Through the passage of time, the connection between students and their work of art will strengthen and grow. In addition, through constructive criticisms, the horizons of each member individual practices will expand. Ultimately, this will nourish the potential of the group as a whole.

After having a solid connection and understanding of the concept that the group wants to illustrate through the work, the purpose will be to find, with the support of all members, different ways of reaching exposure and opening our connections and network. For the first semester, the goal will be exploration and developing a strong affinity between all members.

Advisor: Paul Mullowney
Founded: Spring 2013

Register a New Group

Starting a new club or organization is a simple process:

  • Find at least four (4) registered students who are interested in the same idea.
  • Write a charter statement or the purpose for your group. This statement informs others about why the group exists and could pique someone’s interest in joining your group.
  • Find a faculty or staff member to act as your advisor. If you are having difficulties finding an advisor, contact the Student Affairs Office.
  • Download a Student Group Registration Packet or pick one up in the Student Affairs Office.
  • Completed forms can be submitted to the Student Affairs Office.

Officially recognized student groups enjoy several perks at SFAI, including:

  • Priority access to campus facilities and resources.
  • Special funding consideration from Student Union and LOGS.
  • The privilege of advertising programs and events on SFAI's official Event Calendar and the Student Affairs Facebook page.
  • Recognition on the SFAI website.