Steve Anker

SFAI Filmmaking Faculty, 1984-2002

CalArts Dean, School of Film/Video, 2002-present:

April 3, 2009

Dear Friend and Colleague,

I am writing to ask your help in responding to some alarming actions that have recently occurred at the San Francisco Art Institute, the school where I taught from 1984 to 2002.

Last month nine long-time tenured faculty members, many of whom I worked with and admire, were given notice that they would be laid of at the end of this school year.  The list includes:

Charles Boone (13 years of service to SFAI)

Stephanie Ellis (11 years of service)

Stacy Garfinkel (10 years of service)

Robert Johnson (29 years of service)

Pat Klein (25 years of service)

Jon Lang (16 years of service)

Janis Crystal Lipzin (31 years of service)

Suzanne Olmsted (17 years of service)

John Rapko (12 years of service)

The reason given was the need for budget cuts, but there is ample evidence that the faculty targeted either had been most active in the union and/or represented artistic traditions that the new administration wants to absolutely abandon. In addition, it is clear that the administration is laying off faculty so they can splinter these into part-time adjunct positions that pay less and offer no benefits.

The administration had no dialogue with the students or majority of faculty in making this decision, and they have hired a law firm to be on call that has a notorious reputation for busting unions. The CFO, recently arrived from the Academy of Arts University (a for-profit trade school), calls SFAI “The Company.”  The administration has also stifled all forms of student response and criticism, removing campus statements (posted and in boxes) by hundreds of troubled students and ignoring any expression of discontent on the parts of many staff, faculty and former people affiliated with the school.

Janis Crystal Lipzin was one of those targeted and I am especially dismayed about her removal for two reasons. One is that Janis has been devoted to teaching experimental film and video making for over thirty years. She has been especially inspirational to hundreds of students over the years, and her enrollments remain among the highest in the program.

SFAI has had one of the handfuls of academic programs that have remained committed to this field, and dozens of their graduates have gone on to make significant contributions to the field as artists and teachers (most recently Vanessa O’Neill and Chris Kennedy, among others). I regard Janis as one of the most passionate and inspiring teachers of personal filmmaking in the country and believe that her value to the art is beyond question.

I also see this action as an indication of the final phase-out of the avant-garde and poetic tradition in SFAI’s curriculum, one that for more than forty years has been in the vanguard of this kind of film and video making. I believe that change and expansion in the curriculum were overdue. However, I don’t believe that the personal, avant-garde tradition that has existed for decades and for which there is still strong student support, should now be eradicated. In the mid nineties the faculty consisted of Ernie Gehr, Larry Jordan, Gunvor Nelson, George Kuchar, Al Wong, Janis and myself. George, who is only part-time, is the last of this group, and only Lynn and he are on the regular faculty. The phase-out of what had been a great program is now almost complete.

I still have a deep love and regard for the Art Institute and feel that it has been--and is--a strong part of the community of art schools in this country. Many of these schools are in danger of vanishing or being seriously diminished in American culture.  My fear is that the current administration intends to destroy the school’s relationship to its past, with no regard for the influence that the school has had over the years and with little regard for the importance that it has long had in the local and national communities.

I am asking if you will sign your name in support of the student statement, reproduced below and attached, that was prepared by concerned students and presented (but apparently ignored) by President Chris Bratton and the Board of Trustees at their meeting last week.  If you do, please add your title, institution (if you are connected to one), profession, and relationship to the school (if there is one), and return that to me by Monday night, April 6, so I can add it to the list.

This statement and list of signatures will be forwarded to student leaders, who will then distribute it to administrators and Trustees.

PLUS, if you have the time and are so inclined, please send an email message of our own to President Chris Bratton (cbratton@sfai.edu), and cc the student leader Jeremy Menzies (jmenzies86@hotmail.com) as well as the Trustees and administrators whose addresses are listed at the end of the document. If you prefer, a written statement can be sent to President Bratton at SFAI, 800 Chestnut Street, SF, 94133. Again, please cc a copy to Jeremy Menzies at the above email address. Please indicate in your statement that you heard about this situation via student sources, which is true since that is where I have gotten my primary information from the student web site,

            http://sfaistudentaction.pbwiki.com/

Thanks. These are difficult financial times for us all, but I hate to see these troubles used as excuses for strong-arm actions that undermine the freedoms of our cultural and educational institutions.

Warm regards,

Steve Anker

SFAI Filmmaking Faculty, 1984-2002

CalArts Dean, School of Film/Video, 2002-present

Statement to the Board 3/26/2009

Guy Sherwin, Senior Lecturer in Film/Video

Middlesex University, London, UK & University of Wolverhampton, W. Midlands, UK:

Dear Chris Bratton,

I am a senior lecturer in Film and Video, employed at two Universities in

the UK, Middlesex London, and Wolverhampton, W. Midlands. In addition I am

an artist filmmaker with 35 years experience in making and screening films,

often at international venues.



On three separate occasions, 1986, 1995, 2002 I was employed by SFAI to

deliver classes in film

practice. I was immensely impressed by the experience of working at SFAI, by

the quality of the film faculty and of the student body, and of their

commitment to developing a tradition of exploration in artists' film that

reaches back to the 1950s.



I am therefore very concerned to learn via the student community of the

proposed layoff of key faculty who have been instrumental in fostering this

tradition, for which SFAI has become renowned. It concerns me that proper

consultations appear not to have been carried out as to the most opportune

way to make cuts that would best respect SFAI's valued traditions and

maintain SFAI's international standing in the artworld.



From my experience I have learnt that, like a tree, it takes years to foster

and develop a culture, but a single day to chop it down.



I urge you to consult widely and consider carefully the effect that your

proposed cuts will have on the art culture at SFAI to find the best way to

minimize the damage.



Yours sincerely,

Guy Sherwin

Tony Sinden

Artist/Teacher- UK & Greece:

Dear Chris Bratton 



I am extremely surprized and dismayed to hear that you are thinking of sacking a key member of the film/fine art staff at the SFAI. I taught the history of film and installation art at the SFAI between 1981-1984, along with Larry Jordan, Janis Chrystal Lipzin, Al Wong, George Kuchar, Gunvor Nelson. Steve Anchor and others. Janis is a highly respected American artist and teacher, her practice and knowledge of contemporary art issues has influenced several generations of fine art film/photography students to develop their own individual work at the same time pursue the many and varied career opportunities in contemporary art. Janis is a rare individual with an excellent track record in the arts and teaching so why are you even considering letting her go? 



Yours sincerely 



Tony Sinden 



Artist/Teacher

UK/Greece



PS This coming weekend I am speaking at an international conference on Expanded Cinema - The Space of Reception at the Tate Modern, London. The West Coast and Bay Area played an important part in the development of Expanded Cinema and interactive media (1960's/1970's) emerging from the spirit of enquiry and pioneering experiments of American Artists some of whom taught at the SFAI. Janis and others are part of that tradition.

Mitch Temple

Artist/SFAI Graduate- 2003:

Dear Mr. Bratton,



I was shocked and saddened to hear that the San Francisco Art Institute gave notice to my former professor Janis Lipzin. I can't help but think there is some tragic misunderstanding on the administration's part. I am writing with the sincere hope to help clear this up and get SFAI back on track as the exceptional art school that I know it to be.



I graduated from SFAI as a painting major in 2003. The first class I took with Professor Lipzin as a post-bac was "Artist As An Endangered Species". The class was crucial in providing the theoretical, moral, and behavioral framework necessary to survive and thrive as an artist in today's world. It's very easy to see the challenges, vulgarities, and distractions faced by artists; Professor Lipzin addressed those problems but provided ideas and techniques that gave her students the confidence to go out into the world with hope and conviction.



My project for the class was an art event called "MeWe". It was built on the principles that Janis instilled. The success of that event led me to found an art non-profit called Root Division in 2002 as a graduate student at SFAI. Root Division provides emerging artists with below market rate studios in exchange for community service hours. With those hours artists teach free after school art classes to over 300 underprivileged youth in city schools, produce a monthly exhibition showcasing emerging artists, and teach affordable adult education classes. SFAI students, alumni, and faculty have been the driving force behind Root Division's success and service. Part of my desperation in writing to you is knowing that without Janis it would never have existed.



I'm sure your job is extremely difficult. I attended SFAI from 1999 through the spring of 2003, so I was a witness to the burgeoning dysfunction that you inherited. I sincerely appreciate the courage and optimism necessary for you to have taken the job. As a founder and former Executive Director of an art non-profit I am aware of how the systems necessary for an efficient organization can be in conflict with the dispositions of artists. But if art is to get or keep a meaningful place in our society it is essential to include those voices that are contradictory, challenging, intractable--more simply put, the voices of genuine artists. I can think of no better example of this type of person than Janis Lipzin. 



There is a skeptical side to me that thinks her termination is a fait accompli, but if there is a lesson Professor Lipzin instilled it's that an artist must declare their hopes and beliefs to the best of their ability and often in the face of overwhelming odds. It is with that hope that I implore you to reconsider your recent decisions and reverse them.



Thank you for your time and consideration.



Sincerely,

Mitch Temple

Linda Ford (MFA 2002) & Pam Martin (MFA 2002):

Chris Bratton, President                                                                                                                                                         April 23, 2009

Espi Sanjana, Chief Operating Officer 

Okwui Enwezor, Dean 

San Francisco Art Institute 

800 Chestnut Street 

San Francisco, CA 94133

To: The SFAI Administration and Board of Trustees

From: Concerned SFAI Alumni

As alumni who love SFAI, we are extremely concerned about the recent decisions of the Administration to layoff tenured faculty. According to the Faculty Union, the Board of Trustees and Administration did so by declaring exigency, an extreme financial condition, which has not been proven by the appropriate financial documents. Within the community there exists a wide range of opinions about how to breathe new life into an institution and it's faculty pool and employ more emerging artists, as well as take SFAI into the future. However, we feel that this action must be seen within the context of worker's rights and existing labor laws (what is left of them). The Administration is reportedly in violation of these laws and the union contract. (The contract and very clear documentation of the violations has been posted on the Student Wiki Website www.sfaistudentaction.pbwiki.com) Chris Bratton's letter to alumni states that the Administration "took action rapidly and purposefully to align our income and expenses" but there is no mention of laying off tenured faculty. Despite the need for all institutions (and most individuals) to "respond to the economic downturn", we refuse to see the continued degradation of workers' rights and labor law as the solution. In many ways SFAI has become a microcosm of the world-wide economic "crisis" and calls into question the responsibility and accountability of those in positions of power. The gross malfeasance of the Administration is only made worse by the fact that both Mr. Bratton and Mr. Enwezor have built their own careers based on championing leftist politics.      

These most recent decisions of the SFAI Administration, have been the final actions in what seem like a long (5 year) history of gutting what was the local SFAI community. We have witnessed the slow but sure firings of many of the staff who served SFAI for many years. Amongst these have been, Pete in the cafe, and most recently, Doug and Rob who not only maintained the facilities, but did enumerable things to support students. The circumstances of these firings have called into question worker's rights issues and served to alienate many alumni from SFAI. The firings of so many long standing staff who had been an integral part of the community and continued to connect alumni to the school, have for the most part destroyed this network. This may in fact be part of the reason why, as Chris Bratton reports, there has been such a "drop in value" of the endowment. As alumni who care about SFAI and have a vested interest in it's success, we cannot support an institution that treats it's workers in this manner. Pitting worker's against one another because of age, health insurance issues, and competing salaries, are all ways in which corporations attempt to divide and conquer workers. Unfortunately most of the fired and more recently furloughed staff were not protected by a union contract. The reports that informational flyers posted by students involving these issues, were removed by the administration, point to gross violations of free speech. If these actions have been and continue to be taken by the administration they should be seen for what they are: classic union-busting strategies that are used by corporations all over the world against workers.

As a community of artists and intellectuals, we are seemingly beholden to question and be vocal about such issues. We hope that this letter will serve to voice such questions and urge the Administration and Board of Trustees to reconsider their actions, reinstate the faculty and adopt a more transparent and inclusive decision-making process. We wholly support the SFAI faculty and staff to come together in solidarity. We would lastly like to appeal to the responsibility that the Board of Trustees has to SFAI to serve as it's financial caretakers, as well as local community voices who can defend it's rich and progressive history. 

Sincerely,

Linda M. Ford (MFA 2002) and Pam Martin (MFA 2002) 

<The above letters were drafted by the authors noted in orange in response to the layoffs at SFAI and the effects that these actions will have on the Institute and the larger art world.  Format alterations were made to improve readability on this page.  The only omissions are the statement to the Board of Trustees (replaced by a link) and the removal of Trustees email addresses for security purposes only.  If you have any questions or concerns about the contents of this page, feel free to contact the administrator of this page.>