The Russian Hill San Francisco Art Institute, which houses a 50 million dollar Diego Rivera mural, has filed for bankruptcy. This was due to failed business reorganizations, fundraisers and campaigns. As a result, many are looking at the building as a financial attribute or as a business deal.
An undisclosed group of nine backed by Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of Steve Jobs, have been eyeing the Diego Rivera mural and made an offer to the institute, but no information about price or terms was disclosed, according to Artnet.
David H. Stull, the CEO of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music hopes to keep the Institute for Art functioning as a museum or another school. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that it is likely that the institute will remain an art educational center, but he is not sure to what capacity.
“I hope that the leaders and owners are correct that this Institute remains an educational center,” Art History teacher Sarah Garlinghouse said. “I also hope that they allow the mural to be open to the public so that everyone may enjoy the piece,”
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President, Aaron Peskin, introduced legislation to remove a requirement that the campus only serve an academic institution. This may create problems for preserving the mural because the building could be turned over to someone who might not share the values of keeping it an art institution.
“Since Diego Rivera painted it within the institute, I hope that the new owners will keep it remaining as that,” Garlinghouse said. “I think that it is very important to preserve art as it is.”
