New collaborative project/graduate course taught by Alla Efimova at San Francisco Art Institute, Fall 2015-Spring 2016. Practical museology for artists. www.sfai.edu

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Alla Efimova, PhD
Fall 2015 Seminar
Friday, 1 - 3:45 pm

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• 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

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• Students and faculty in museum and curatorial studies
• Students and faculty in fine arts and art history
• Interdisciplinary readings, discussions, and guest lectures

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Jay DeFeo in the studio

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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

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Francis Bacon in his studio

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GOAL
• 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

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TOPICS
• 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

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Louise Bourgeois in her studio

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

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Pablo Picasso in his studio

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SAMPLE 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)

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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

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• 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.

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INSTRUCTOR
• 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

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