The San Francisco Art Institute has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, a move that will force the 152-year-old institution to liquidate its assets and abandon its legendary campus on the edge of Russian Hill, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The Art Institute filed for bankruptcy on April 19. “It was a good run for 152 years and it is such a tragedy that it is gone,” said John Marx who served as co-chair of the institute's board. “The passion was there until the very end and up to the moment that we filed we were still trying to get a couple of billionaires on the East Coast to help us out but it just didn’t work out.” A meeting of the creditors will be held May 17. Most prominent among them is the University of San Francisco, which claims it is owed around $6 million for costs incurred in exploring a relationship between the two institutions in an attempt to save the art school. But USF ultimately decided not to go through with it in July 2022, and the Art Institute announced it would cease operations, ending a San Francisco tradition that dates back to 1871.
