art/archive/practice at sfai

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICEAlla Efimova, PhD

Fall 2015 SeminarFriday, 1 - 3:45 pm

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICE

• Interdisciplinary Seminar • Followed by optional Directed Study Spring 2016• Open to MA and MFA students at SFAI• Open to MA and senior BA students at Bay-Area museum

and curatorial studies programs• Participating programs:

• CCA Curatorial Practice Program• JFK University Museum Studies Program• USF Museum Studies Program


• Students and faculty in museum and curatorial studies

• Students and faculty in fine arts and art history

• Interdisciplinary readings, discussions, and guest lectures


Jay DeFeo in the studio


In 2007, Columbia University’s Research Center for Arts and Culture study on New York City Aging Artists found:

• 61% no preparation for their work after death• 95% did not archive their work• 97% no estate plan• 3 of 4 no will • 1 in 5 no documentation of their work at all


Francis Bacon in his studio

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICEGOAL

• Artists acquire the professional skills for a sustainable practice

• Museum studies and art history students are introduced to the expanding field of curatorial work with artist’s practices and estates

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICETOPICS

• Economics of contemporary art since late 20th century• Needs of artists’ practice management• Principles of art collections care and documentation• Issues in estate and legacy planning for visual artists


Louise Bourgeois in her studio


GUEST LECTURERS FROM

• Major auction houses• Bay Area museum studies programs• Major museum collection curators and registrars• Artists’ foundations and trusts


Pablo Picasso in his studio

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICESAMPLE TEXTS

• Howard Singerman, Art Subjects: Making Artists in the American University (University of California Press, 1999)

• Thompson, Don. The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014)

• Magda Salvesen and Diane Cousineau, eds. Artists’ Estates: Reputations in Trust (Rutgers University Press, 2005)

• Jacob, Mary Jane. The Studio Reader: On the Space of Artists (University of Chicago Press, 2010)

• Snyder, Jill and Montague, Joseph. Caring for your Art: A guide for Artists, Collectors, Galleries and Art Institutions (Allsworth Press, 2001)

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICE GOAL Expand the history of SFAI’s major contribution to the

history of Bay Area and national art communities through further documenting the work of its current and emerita faculty, and alumni


• Fall seminar is followed by optional Directed Study in the Spring when small teams of students work with artists’ estates and living artists, historically affiliated with SFAI.

• Students will be mentored by the instructor and provided the tools, goals, and methodology for directed study.

ART/ARCHIVE/PRACTICEINSTRUCTOR

• Principal, KunstWorks, Berkeley, CA

• Former Director and Chief Curator, The Magnes; Associate Curator, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive

• Taught at SFAI, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine

• PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies, University of Rochester


Precedent: ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY, New York and Washington, DC

art/archive/practice at sfai

Education