Gage signs the lease for a new main location at 2105-2107 Westlake Ave. in South Lake Union.

Gage introduces a new Teen Art Studio location at South Park.

Gage student, Anne Steele, pledges $1M in support of school’s educational programs.
Gage opens new Annex in Georgetown with 2 ateliers, and adds sculpture atelier to Capitol Hill campus.

Co-founder & ED, Pamela Belyea, steps down after 24 years. New Executive Director, Sheila Hughes, takes the administrative reins.
Hughes leads the school for 2-1/2 years and leaves to become Director of Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

End-of-summer Drawing Jam @ Bumbershoot draws 10,000 visitors each year. Gage repeats the popular program the following year.

School changes name to Gage Academy of Art.
Gage instructors exhibit their work at WA State Convention Center.

SAFA board negotiates with St. Mark’s Cathedral for space in St. Nicholas Building Capitol Hill. Fundraising & renovations begin in Fall.

Transformation! On January 1, Arts Education Northwest trustees “adopt” Academy of Realist Art & Young Artists Academy. Board files to change name of nonprofit to Seattle Academy of Fine Art (SAFA). SAFA receives its 501(c)(3) status in March.
SAFA presents first Family Art Tour to Paris with future tours to London & Paris II. SAFA hosts first Drawing Jam which becomes the school’s major annual public event.

Philanthropist Ida Cole makes major donation to ensure successful launch of Seattle’s new visual arts non-profit.

ARA launches “Young Artists Academy” offering summer teen workshops, soon followed by afterschool kid classes in NE & NW Seattle. Expanded youth programs continue the following summer and continue to present.

ARA presents first domestic Academy Art Tour to NYC. Future tours include Los Angeles, Portland, Detroit, & San Francisco.

ARA continues to offer summer programs in Santa Fe at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary untill 1995, and expands to NM sites in Taos, Grost Ranch, & Cimarron. ARA co-founders move to Seattle.

Artist-instructor, Gary Faigin, and New York based architect, Pamela Belyea, conceive of a new art school, Academy of Realist Art (ARA), and begin prep.