COURTESY OF RYAN BALLARD
THE ART OF A
COLLEGE EDUCATION
attended. Over the next four decades, the second Stephens to
hold the reins of the Academy
gradually increased enrollment
up to 2,300, adding courses
for fashion design and film and
music production.
As the school grew, so did the
family’s affluence. During his tenure, Richard A. built what became
one of his most high-profile legacies: the Academy of Art’s Automobile Museum. Perched like a
glass trophy case on one of the
busiest corners of the city’s main
thoroughfare, the museum houses
the Stephens family’s collection
of nearly 200 classic cars, including a 1954 Corvette and a 1930
Cadillac V16 Roadster. The structure is a testament to the family’s
vast private wealth, and almost
everyone in San Francisco has
stopped for at least a moment to
ogle the automobiles.
By the time Richard A. handed
the reins to his daughter, Elisa, in
the early 1990s, the university was
regarded as a sort of blue-collar
training school for the arts, a class
apart from highly regarded and
highly selective programs such as
the San Francisco Art Institute.
In a 1998 interview in the San
Francisco Chronicle, Richard A.,
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
Ryan Ballard
took online
graduate
courses at
the Academy.
He was not
satisfied with
the quality of
the education
and is now in
debt. ABOVE:
Some examples
of Ballard’s
work.