Visit
Tour our campus and discover why California College of the Arts is the right place for you.
Welcome
A creative community unlike anywhere else
Learn your craft on our newly expanded residential campus
California College of the Arts is located in the urban Design District neighborhood, where creativity and collaboration thrive. At the heart of campus is the Nave, a sunlit corridor in our main building surrounded by student studios that are the hub of CCA’s critique culture. Just beyond, our newly expanded campus adds more than 80,000 square feet of space, enhancing interdisciplinary learning in one of San Francisco’s most vibrant cultural neighborhoods. On campus you’ll also find our residence halls, Founders Hall and Blattner Hall, and the world-renowned Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts.
View inside our studios, student center, makerspaces, and more.
Find the freedom to explore
The confluence of our prime location, diverse creative community, and interdisciplinary curriculum focused on socially engaged projects makes life at CCA unique. Here in San Francisco, we’re connected to the contemporary art scene, as well as industry partners we work with to build design-led technological solutions.
Our campus offers state-of-the-art facilities and a stimulating environment to inspire students’ creativity. Come see for yourself. Experiencing CCA firsthand is the best way to determine why you belong at the top art and design school in the country.
You can take a self-guided virtual tour, make a one-on-one appointment with an admissions advisor, or attend a virtual admissions event from wherever you’d like.
Campus Tours
Schedule a campus tour or take our virtual tour
Our admissions staff offers guided tours of our campus every week. All visitors must register in advance. We are unable to accommodate walk-in guests or unaccompanied visitors on campus at this time. Schedule a tour using the links below or contact [email protected] if you have questions.
If you aren’t able to visit in person, take a self-guided virtual tour on your own time. Then schedule time to meet with an admissions counselor via Zoom, or phone. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
What to expect on a campus tour
A CCA student ambassador or admissions counselor will guide you on your campus visit. Preregistration is required for all campus tours and tour capacity is limited to 20 guests or fewer. We encourage all campus visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The tour, which lasts approximately 50 minutes, takes visitors through our light-filled main building, home to the Nave, painting and illustration classrooms and studios, Hybrid Lab, furniture bench room, wood and metal shops, design and architecture studios, computer labs, and more. We’ll also visit a student residence, Founders Hall, and take a first look at our new campus. The expansion with all-new state-of-the-art facilities, adaptable maker spaces, galleries, and more just opened in fall 2024.
All tours include a Q&A session with an admissions counselor, who will provide information about our programs, financial aid opportunities, portfolio requirements, and application process. They’ll be happy to answer any other questions you might have or that come up along the way.
Graduate students in their studio space.
Graduate tours
Rather than stick to one siloed path of study, we tend to work across multiple disciplines, pulling inspiration from the Bay Area. You’ll see these hybridity principles and creative adjacencies on full display during your tour of our campus in San Francisco.
We’ll explore the main building, where graduate students often work as teaching assistants, as well as graduate student housing in the new, nearby Founders Hall. The tour includes a look at individual graduate program studios, including graduate fine arts studios, the graduate design studio, the graduate architecture studio, and the Graduate Center, which is home to the graduate computer lab, exhibitions catalogs, library, and more.
At the end of your tour, we recommend you visit our numerous campus galleries, including the Novack Gallery, Campus Gallery, PLAySPACE Gallery, and prestigious CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, where graduate students go to view exhibitions and participate in gallery events.
Group tours
Our campus tours (excluding residence hall visits) can accommodate your group of up to 20 students. These tours are for groups of high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors or college transfer students only.
Group tours are by request and subject to availability and capacity limitations. We encourage all tour attendees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
To request a group tour, please email [email protected] with information about your group size and interests. We require three weeks advance notice for all group tours. We'll contact you via email upon receipt of your request to further assist in scheduling your group tour.
Admissions events
Visit our campus during an admissions event! During the year, we offer opportunities for prospective or admitted students to visit our campus, such as Undergraduate Open House, San Francisco’s National Portfolio Day, and CCA’s Admitted Student Day. Please note: these events require advance registration.
RSVP for upcoming events
Virtual Tour
Look inside labs, studios, and more
📍 Welcome home, Chimeras
Explore CCA's creative campus from wherever you are. As you tour shops, studios, and residence halls, you'll hear stories from those who know CCA best—our students and faculty—and experience the spaces where we gather and create. It's the closest you can get to our home without leaving yours.
For prospective undergraduate students
Take a quick spin around campus in our Meet CCA Tour, explore the full Chimera experience in our Undergraduate Tour, or tour our neighborhood and discover what students enjoy outside of class.
For prospective graduate students
Tour CCA's shops and studios. You'll see first-hand why San Francisco is the best place to earn a prestigious graduate degree.
Portfolio Reviews
Get advice before you apply
A portfolio should make a big impression
Our admissions counselors can help
When you apply for admission to CCA, whether you’re enrolling as an undergraduate student or a graduate candidate, you’ll have to submit a portfolio of work that demonstrates your creative achievement and potential.
This portfolio helps us make admissions decisions, as well as decisions regarding scholarship recipients, award amounts, financial aid, course placement, and more. In short, you want your portfolio to rise to the top of the stack. We’re happy to help you refine your portfolio so that it shows the best of your abilities, while also providing everything we need to see.
CCA admissions staff offers undergraduate portfolio reviews by Zoom only. To request an appointment, use the appropriate link below to put something on our calendars, call +1 800-447-1ART, text +1 415-610-7004, or email [email protected].
Graduate admissions counselors cannot offer feedback on your portfolio work, but are happy to answer technical questions about portfolio requirements, our program options, or the application process. Request an appointment to speak to a graduate admissions counselor by phone or Zoom.
Meet CCA at a National Portfolio Day event
Connect with CCA representatives and admissions counselors by attending an undergraduate or graduate National Portfolio Day (NPD). Attend NPD for insights on your application portfolio from CCA’s admissions team and learn about CCA’s programs and application process.
Other portfolio resources
Maps & Directions
Getting to campus
CCA is located at 145 Hooper Street in San Francisco’s Design District.
By rideshare — A rideshare service can drop you off directly in front of our main campus building.
By car—Limited parking is also available along streets adjacent to our campus, with a four-hour time limit. There are parking garages in the neighborhood.
By public transportation — Campus is accessible by BART with Muni bus connections at Civic Center station or 16th Street station or by Muni with nearby stops for the 19, 22, and 55 bus lines.
From the airport — San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is about 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) from campus. There are several options for getting to campus from the airport, and SFO also has shuttle services that provide transportation to any destination in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.
CCA’s creative culture is rooted in our vibrant and inclusive community