The Academy of Art University, formerly Academy of Art College, is a privately owned for-profit art school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was founded by Richard S. Stephens in 1929, and is now owned by the Stephens Institute. It has over 18,000 students, and claims to be the largest privately owned art and design school in the United States.[3] It is one of the largest property owners in San Francisco, with the main campus located on New Montgomery Street in the South of Market district.[4]