California College of the Arts

Rankings

BusinessWeek magazine in 2009 called CCA one of the world’s best design schools.

CCA ranks fourth among San Francisco Bay Area colleges and universities for highest-paying degrees (Stanford, Santa Clara University, and UC Berkeley, in that order, are the top three).

U.S. News & World Report ranks CCA as one of the top graduate master of fine arts programs for Ceramics, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Painting/Drawing, Photography, and Sculpture.

History

CCA was founded in 1907 by Frederick Meyer in Berkeley as the School of the California Guild of Arts and Crafts during the height of the Arts and Crafts movement. The Arts and Crafts movement originated in Europe during the late 19th century as a response to the industrial aesthetics of the machine age. Followers of the movement advocated an integrated approach to art, design, and craft. Today, Frederick Meyer’s "practical art school" is an internationally known and respected institution, drawing students from around the world.

In 1908 the school was renamed California School of Arts and Crafts, and in 1936 it became the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC).

The college’s Oakland campus location was acquired in 1922, when Meyer bought the four-acre James Treadwell estate at Broadway and College Avenue. Two of its buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Oakland campus still houses the more traditional, craft based studios like the art glass, jewelry metal arts, printmaking, painting, sculpture and ceramic programs.

In 2003 the college changed its name to California College of the Arts.

Programs and educational initiatives

CCA offers 22 undergraduate and 13 graduate majors. CCA confers the bachelor of fine arts (BFA), bachelor of arts (BA), bachelor of architecture (BArch), master of fine arts (MFA), master of arts (MA), master of architecture (MArch), master of advanced architectural design (MAAD), masters of design (MDes) and master of business administration (MBA) degrees.

The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, located near the San Francisco campus in a new facility on Kansas St., is a forum for contemporary culture. In 2013 the Wattis Institute recruited a new director, Anthony Huberman, formerly of Artist's Space in New York.

Alumni

Alumni Robert Arneson and Peter Voulkos and faculty member Viola Frey helped establish the medium of ceramics as a fine art and were closely linked to the emergence of the 1960s ceramics movement. The photorealist movement of the 1970s is represented by current faculty member Jack Mendenhall and alumni Robert Bechtle and Richard McLean. Alumni Nathan Oliveira and Manuel Neri were leaders in the Bay Area Figurative Movement. Marvin Lipofsky founded CCA's Glass Program in 1967 and was important in the Studio Glass movement. Two school faculty established California Faience.

Noted alumni include the artists (listed in alphabetical order, by last name);

Academia

Ceramics

Film

Painting

Photography

Printmaking

Illustration

Mixed media

Sculpture

Designers

Writers

Faculty

Listed noted faculty both past and present, in alphabetical order by last name.

Curators

Designers

Film

Painting and Fine Arts

Photography

Sculpture and Glass

Textiles

Writers

Accreditation

CCA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).