"Citing CCA's long-standing financial struggles, including "demographic shifts and a persistent structural deficit," CCA President David C. Howse called the plan "a decisive act of stewardship." Deficits? How can this be? San Francisco is dense with millionaires. It frequently boasts the highest number of billionaires anywhere. How does one of the wealthiest cities in the world lose its last and oldest progressive art school? Intentionally."
"The art scene has always struggled to attract technology wealth, and today's crypto kings have yet to emerge as philanthropists defending the arts or freedom of expression. The loss of CCA should be considered in relation to staggering wealth disparities and lack of social investment, primarily perpetuated by the technology sector, much of which has tight alliances with today's leadership in Washington, DC. The indifference of wealth that has long-vexed San Francisco is now a systemic threat to the national ecosystem."
California College of the Arts announced plans to close by the end of the 2026-2027 school year, with its campus to be owned by Vanderbilt. The president cited long-standing financial struggles, demographic shifts, and a persistent structural deficit, calling the plan a decisive act of stewardship. The closure occurs amid San Francisco's extreme concentration of millionaires and billionaires while the local art scene struggles to attract technology philanthropy and crypto wealth. The loss reflects widening wealth disparity and lack of social investment driven by the technology sector and its political alliances, posing a systemic threat to the national arts ecosystem.
Read at Hyperallergic
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