ABSTRACT
By early 1972 official statements about the school's future emphasized the need for a new direction, and the Utopian forms of thought which had once been encouraged became increasingly tabooed. The major fact behind the collapse of utopianism was that "the money" necessary to guarantee the future of the school's early programs was not available. It was the effect of dwindling financial resources upon Institute social relations which played the greatest role in bringing the dream of an ideal artists' community to an end. By 1975 Cal Arts was no longer the "scene" it had once been, and in satisfied recognition of this fact the Disney Foundation gave $ 14 million to the Institute as an endowment thereby finally guaranteeing its future. There were others whose employment alternatives made them regard the Institute as ideal long after some of their colleagues had become thoroughly disillusioned.
