These are sad news today. Brooks Institute which has been the home to many photographers, photo journalists, and filmmakers is closing its doors.
According to an announcement on Brook’s facebook page, Brooks Institute will be closing October 31st, 2016. Sometime you hope that someone hijacked the page and pranked the world, but this is not the case.
The Californian college was established in 1945 and was initially called Brooks Institute of Photography. So you can probably guess what its prime field of teaching was. In addition to bachelors and masters in photography the college also offered filmmaking and visual journalism degrees. A great place for everything visual.
About 9 hours ago the college announced its closing, with reasons unclear, and this message was posted on their facebook page:
Today is a sad day. After 70 years, thousands of careers started, and too many friendships and relationships made to count; we are sad to report that Brooks Institute will be closing October 31st, 2016.
The alumni board are discussing the future of the alumni association beyond Brooks and are currently scheduling meetings with the school administration to make sure that alumni services stay in place beyond the schools closure. We will update everyone via social media when we know how alumni services will be handled.
We know that this will mean something to each and every member of this community. Every person reacts to this type of news differently. Some will take to social media to voice their anger, sadness, and frustration. Along with this we hope that people will take time to reflect on their positive memories of their time at Brooks and the people they met there.
While the school is coming to an end, your education, experience, and careers that came out of the Institute will continue to live on long after Brooks’s doors close. So today is a sad day, but those of us who experienced Brooks at its fullest will continue to share our experiences with the next generation or photographers, filmmakers, journalists, designers and media artists.
We will let you know more as news becomes available. We expect to have an official statement from the schools owners soon.
Respectfully,
Matt Harbicht
President – Alumni Association of Brooks Institute
Class of April 2002
All fall classes were cancelled and no new enrolments are allowed. The college will completely shut down at Oct. 31.
While the college was suffering from a decline in student enrolment over the last few years, VC reporter notes that it seems to have bounced back last year with a 25% jump in student enrolment.
According to VC reporter, this sudden closure followed a sudden change of President and leading management:
This announcement came after a sudden change in leadership earlier this week. Christine Lin, founder and owner of gphomestay, which purchased Brooks Institute in June 2015, terminated Clift’s three year contract. That prompted most of board of trustees–those who were independent of the parent company–to resign. Lin immediately assumed duties as interim president
footage of closure announcement
[h/t Pratik Naik]
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!