A letter written by Steve Anker, the Dean of the School of Film/Video at Cal-Arts from 2002 to Present, and SFAI Filmmaking Faculty from 1984 - 2002:

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 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), and cc the student leader Jeremy Menzies ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) 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