Career Resources

Work-Study

Some students will notice a work-study award on their financial aid statement. A work-study award does not affect a student’s ability to work on campus; the majority of positions offered at SFAI are available to both work-study and non-work-study qualified students.

International Students

F-1 and J-1 student visa holders are eligible to work on campus for up to 20 hours per week during the regular academic year, and full-time during winter, spring, and summer breaks. For more information on eligibility and securing a Social Security number, see the Study in the States Website.

These classes offer students experience within professional environments for class credits

IN-396T-01 Internship

The Internship course enables students to gain field experience within an arts or cultural organization over the course of a single semester, while engaging with a faculty advisor and their peers in classroom discussions about their experience. Students are expected to complete their internship while enrolled in the internship class, and perform a minimum of 85 hours of work with the host organization (approximately 7 hours per week). Class discussions, readings, and site visits to Bay Area arts organizations are designed to familiarize students with the arts ecosystem, principles and functions of visual arts organizations, including organizational structure, nonprofit status, governance, cultural policy, and support for the arts, and resources for visual artists.

• Prerequisites: Junior Standing and Instructor Permission
• Offered both Fall and Spring Semesters

IN-308-01 Beyond the Studio

This course provides knowledge and tools for a life in the arts. Designed for upper level students, the focus is on real world strategies to support lifelong practice in alignment with personal values and choices. Weekly readings, lectures and discussions build awareness of options and the complex arts ecosystem, and introduce approaches to planning, marketing, fundraising, and financial management. We'll also cover how to document work; prepare a resume/CV; write proposals for exhibitions, grants, residencies, and other opportunities. By the end of the course, students will have initiated a personal plan and completed elements of their professional portfolio or website, in preparation for navigating and securing opportunities beyond SFAI.

• Prerequisite: none
• Offered both Fall and Spring Semesters

PH-220D-01 Let's Get Practical

This hands-on professional practices class prepares students for life as artists after school. Through in-depth critique, frequent field trips, and class discussions about how to manage a budding art career, how to produce and finish work/projects in the real world, and how to engage other practitioners in the field students will feel better equipped in their future endeavors. The class will apply theoretical and conceptual approaches to practical techniques deployed by artists. Topics covered include: advanced photographic printing and archival processing, presentational strategies such as framing and matting and book/catalog design with a focus on image sequencing; portfolio development; exhibition design; and installation strategies. The class will visit current exhibitions, working artists' studios, fabrication facilities, and photographic service bureaus.

• Prerequisites: Introduction to the Darkroom (PH-100), Intro to Photo As the Digital Medium (PH-120), and Contemporary Tools &Practices (PH-200)
• Offered Fall Semester

IN-390-01 Senior Review Seminar

This course in the context of an interdisciplinary seminar format is a capstone review of studio work that takes place in the senior year of the BFA program. The strength of this seminar is the development of an ongoing critical dialogue with members of the seminar from all undergraduate majors and areas of study. Critical discourses during the review seminar foster intersdisciplinarity and further prepare students for continued development of their studio practice after graduation. A final summary statement is required in addition to meeting learning standards for successful completion of the BFA degree.

• Prerequisite: Final Semester Senior Standing
• Offered both Fall and Spring Semesters

GR-502-01 Graduate Lecture Series

The Graduate Lecture Series works in conjunction with the Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series in support of the MFA, MA, Dual Degree, and Post-Baccalaureate programs. The lecture series provides exposure to, and engagement with, diverse trajectories, styles, approaches, and career paths offered by emerging and established artists, curators, critics, theorists, and historians working in a wide variety of disciplines in both local and global contemporary art communities. As an investigation of the contemporary issues relevant to the development of graduate students' full education and experience at SFAI, the lecture series provides the entire graduate body with a common interdisciplinary foundation and plays a crucial role in defining individual praxis and the meanings of "success" within the current and future landscape of contemporary art. These lectures will occur in the Lecture Hall at the 800 Chestnut Street campus on Friday afternoons from 4:30-6:00 pm. Students will also have the opportunity to meet with some of the guests for individual critiques, small group colloquia, and informal gatherings after the lectures. Presentations by SFAI graduate faculty will comprise an additional component of the series to be held in the regular time block during weeks when visitors are not scheduled.

• Prerequisite: none
• Offered both Fall and Spring Semesters