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Academy classes are taught by working professionals, backed by real-world technology, and powered by collaborations with industry clients. You’ll graduate with a portfolio of career-ready work.

No barriers. No test scores. No portfolio required.

Credit for prior learning experience means your experience counts. Military-friendly programs welcome veterans and active service members into a strong, supportive community. UpSkill classes let you take any class you want to brush up on existing skills, acquire new ones, or just have fun.

22 schools of art and design. 14 STEM programs. 20+ AI-infused courses across every school. Get the skills employers want. Learn on campus in San Francisco, online or virtually.

With everything from Associate of Applied Sciences to graduate and undergraduate degrees—including the world’s first BFA & MFA in AI for Marketing and Design—you’ll find your future here.

Companies that Employ Our Students

Students & Alumni

Always Creating. Always Moving Forward.

At the Academy, creativity doesn’t pause at graduation. It accelerates. From day one, students bring bold ideas and leave with portfolios that speak louder than résumés. And when they graduate, they launch into creative careers.

This is where passion meets purpose—on campus, in studios, and on global stages.

Our alumni are out there now winning awards, leading teams, and shaping culture.

Michael Canty

Michael Canty

“Academy of Art was a great school. I loved the car museum, and being able to build my own clay models and get hands-on experience was incredibly valuable. As a veteran, only part of my schooling was covered. Still, thanks to the Academy’s Yellow Ribbon Program, I was able to receive additional funding to continue my education. I had the privilege of learning from the legendary Tom Matano, and every one of my instructors pushed me to think deeper and become a better designer.”

BFA Industrial Design Alumni, Design Manager at Lincoln Motor Company

Saba Raji

Saba Raji

“The Academy played a huge role in my success. From the beginning, my professors encouraged me to think beyond tools and discover my own voice in architecture. That encouragement, believing I could do more if I worked hard, was a turning point. The Academy’s culture of support and inspiration truly shaped who I am as a designer.”

MFA Interior Architecture, Technical Designer for Gensler

Richard Jennings BFA Graphic Design Senior VP at Warner Bros Discovery Academy of Art University Alumni

Richard Jennings

“I absolutely love my experience at the Academy of Art. Anyone who ever asks me about it, I always say: if you really want to become a working designer, go to the Academy of Art. That’s where you’ll learn the fundamental skills that apply to every avenue of creativity and design.”

MFA Graphic Design Alumni, Senior Vice President at Warner Bros. Discovery

Liz Gerger

Liz Gerger

“This school showed me that my story is the most valuable thing I have to offer. It’s our unique perspective and human crunchiness that make our work distinctly ours. … If that’s true, my time at ArtU has made me so grateful for the years I spent doing the wrong thing. For the pain and deep insecurities that made me feel like I needed to be something I wasn’t. There’s no algorithm for that experience.”

MFA Visual Development Alumni & 2025 Valedictorian, Designer at Disney Theatrical Group

Facility Highlights

    FA Equipment lab

    Equipment Lab

    Our equipment lab features state-of-the-art equipment like a jet-milling machine for cutting metal, a McEnglevan MIFCO forge machine, a plasma cutter, and 250-amp welders. The lab also features the only complete art and sculpture neon studio in California, and a mold-making studio for one-, two-, and three-piece plaster and rubber casts.

    private studio

    Painting Studio

    Our painting facilities include full-time anatomy studios and a full-time multimedia room. All classrooms and studios are equipped with easels, tabourets, model stands, spotlights, cleaning stations, and painting storage racks to accommodate any style of painting. The prop room is well-stocked with over 100 fabrics and over 2500 different props for your reference. We also have a dedicated room for framing and photographing art.

    printmaking studio

    Printmaking Studio

    Our main printmaking facility includes six presses for intaglio, relief, and monotype printing. The intaglio and relief studio embraces both traditional and sustainable approaches, with support for both zinc and copper etching. The silkscreen studio concentrates on the photo emulsion process and includes a dedicated darkroom. The studio is equipped with ink, screens, a light table, and digital output capabilities.

    fine arts sculpture

    Sculpture Center

    Our sculpture center houses a complete wax studio with gating and sprue stations, as well as a ceramics room with slurry tank, silica sand stations, front-loading computer programmed electric and gas kilns, a slab roller, extruder, and a pug mill.

    Seven Skutt Electric Kilns
    Mid-sized, top-loading, and digitally controlled, these Skutt kilns offer precise, repeatable firing for bisque, glaze, and mid-range ceramic work—ideal for student projects.

    One Large Cress Side-Loading Kiln
    Our largest electric kiln features a side-hinged door and spacious chamber, perfect for large-scale or high-volume firings, with digital precision and ergonomic loading.

    Two Toki Test Kilns
    Compact and fast, the Toki kilns are built for glaze tests and small projects—speeding up experimentation with quicker heat cycles and efficient results.

    Fine Art Welding

    Welding Studio

    Our welding studio features industry standard TIG, MIG, stick, and gas welders; power tools; a sand blaster; and patina stations.

    Wood Metals Shop

    Wood Shop

    Fabricate objects and jigs on both natural and artificial wood in our wood shop. Work with band saws, drill presses, a jointer, a planer, miter saws, a panel saw, wood shapers, and table routers. Two wood lathes, two isolated sanding rooms with spindle and disc sanders, and one more lathe for working foam plastics give you the control to polish your designs. The wood shop also features four SawStop table saws as part of our ongoing commitment to safety.

    Bronze Foundry School of Fine Art Academy of Art University San Francisco

    Bronze Foundry

    Located in South San Francisco, our bronze foundry is forged for full-process casting. Multiple crucibles, a hydraulic crane, burnout kiln, sandblaster, and a Laguna Raku kiln give students the tools to transform molten metal into masterpieces.

    A person wearing a paint-stained apron operates a large printing press wheel in an art studio. Tables, tools, and equipment surround them, with visible pipes on the ceiling.

    Framing Shop

    Frame It Right.

    The framing shop is open to all students and is equipped for paintings, works on paper, and more. Turn your work into professionally finished pieces suitable for display.

    Supervised sessions available by appointment only.

    Your work. Professionally finished.