San Francisco Art Institute | SFAI, Founded in 1871, SFAI is the nation’s oldest and only school of higher education dedicated to contemporary art; offering BFA, BA, MFA and MA degrees, Post-Baccalaureate and pre-college programs in art, art history, letters and sciences. We boast an illustrious list of faculty and alumni in all areas of focus. Most importantly, we have consistently held fast to a core philosophy of fostering creativity and critical thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary environment. At SFAI, we.