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There are many connotations of the word Currency that are appropriate to an emerging artists exhibition, “the state of being current” prime among them. But, of course, at a time when many sectors of society are reflecting upon national economic conditions, an art exhibition at the Old Mint brings first to mind the sense of “a medium of exchange.”

This monumental site provides artists of the San Francisco Art Institute a unique opportunity to juxtapose contemporary expression with a National Historic Landmark that was central to the country’s economic development. Constructed around the same time as SFAI’s beginnings in 1871, the Old Mint has a past both glittering and gritty: At one point its vaults held a third of the United States’ gold reserves ($300 million, or $6 billion adjusted for inflation), and as a survivor of the devastating 1906 earthquake and fires, it played a pivotal role in San Francisco’s reconstruction.

A symbol found on the old vault doors, the United States initials formed into a dollar sign, says much about our nation’s economic strength, but also its international hegemony. It became the exhibition logo.

The contemporary art world has a twinned fascination and revulsion around the com modification of art, from Andy Warhol’s dollar-sign screen paintings to reports of record-breaking auction prices to the explosion (and bemoaning) of art lairs. SFAI presents this exhibition with lull knowledge of the market’s crucial role in supporting the activities of the art world—but also with the expectation that its daring artists will bring a sense of irony and subversion to the proceedings, and offer compelling evidence of the higher, distinctly non-monetary value of artistic practice.

It is the currency of ideas in which these artists trade, and as they leave the Institute into a world driven by competition and profit, they bring with them the most valuable assets any creative person could amass: experimental yet intentional approaches to making and interpreting culture; inventive attitudes to problem-solving; independence of thought.

One important thing about Currency is that it is not a student exhibition, with the amateur qualities that the term connotes, but rather the launch of professional artists and visual scholars into their fields. The work of an SFAI graduate stands up to that found in any gallery in San Francisco, nationally, or internationally, and in fact occupies the leading edge in art practices, as has so often been the case throughout this institution’s celebrated history.

As you explore the exhibition and these pages, I invite you to reflect on the ideas being exchanged and circulated; the richness of San Francisco’s artistic community, in which SFAI is proud to play a vital role; and the worth, measurable or not, of art in your life.

Now, if you’ll pardon the pun—congratulations to the newly minted Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts graduates, and may your SFAI education serve as invaluable currency in the adventures ahead.