Picture St. Michael's College, founded here in 1859, now reborn as this art school. This campus began life as a Catholic school, founded as St. Michael’s College in 1859 at the urging of Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, who had arrived in New Mexico in 1851 and, after establishing Loretto Academy for girls in 1852, recruited the De La Salle Christian Brothers to open a brother school for boys; St. Michael’s held its first classes in the fall of 1859. In the 1870s a new leader, Brother Botulph, oversaw its growth.
In 1966 it was renamed the College of Santa Fe, a non-profit institution. Faced with financial difficulties in 2009, the college closed; the campus was then purchased by the City of Santa Fe, the State of New Mexico, and Laureate Education and reopened with a narrowed focus on film, theater, graphic design, and fine arts. As Santa Fe University of Art and Design it became a secular college of 950 students.
The university ultimately closed in May 2018 due to significant ongoing financial challenges. Across this quad you can read three lives of one campus: St. Michael's College for boys, the College of Santa Fe, and an art school of 950 students that closed in May 2018.