The San Francisco Art Institute, with its Diego Rivera mural, has been sold to a non-profit organization

The main campus of the bankrupt San Francisco Art Institute, which featured Diego Rivera's beloved mural, has been sold to a new nonprofit led by philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs.

The nonprofit, made up of local arts leaders and their supporters, including Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, bought the campus — which was plagued by debt — through an LLC, for about $30 million. reduction, mentioned Earlier in the San Francisco Chronicle, it includes “making a mural showing the city building,” a 1931 mural that Rivera painted, estimated at $50 million, and which will remain in the viewing room.

The former school will house a non-accredited institution that will include a residency program where artists can “develop and showcase their work,” said David Stoll, president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a member of the new nonprofit. Advisory Committee. He described the new center as “a platform to support artists and create a hub for the community around art.”

The purchase comes at a time when the institute faces debts of about $20 million. Filed for bankruptcy last April; Her two-acre estate in the Russian Hill neighborhood was listed for sale last summer.

Artists and city leaders argued that the mural should remain and San Francisco supervisors designated it a landmark to prevent its removal.

“San Francisco has long been a center for the development of the arts, and continues to be an important center for the development of ideas,” Stoll said. “An institution like the Art Institute should be part of this future.”

In addition to Stoll, the advisory committee includes Brenda Way, founder and artistic director of ODC Dance Company in San Francisco; Lynn Fentic, president of the Los Angeles-based Liberty Building and longtime ODC board member; Stanley Gatti, event designer and former chair of the San Francisco Arts Commission; and Stephen Bell, former president of the California College of the Arts.

“San Francisco needed some good news, however Close Messi “This story is a big shot in the arm for the entire city and county,” said Aaron Peskin, chairman of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Work on the campus is expected to take up to four years, says Peskin, who said he helped guide local zoning code amendments through the legislative process to accommodate the reimagined institute. “This is a sign that arts and culture can be part of San Francisco’s recovery,” he said.