The school founder, Rudolph Frederick Schaeffer[1] had studied in Munich (1914 to 1915) through the United States Commission of Education, learn about the study of color, design, and craft and how it was being taught in public, industrial, and trade schools.

[2] Originally named the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Rhythmo-Chromatic Design, located at 136 St. Anne Street[4] with large front windows looking out on Saint Mary's Square and Beniamino Bufano's Sun Yat Sen statue, in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco.

Other artists had studios in the Anne Street building, including Bertha Lum and Frances Revett Wallace.

In the 1950s, in order to educate the public and students about Asian culture, Schaeffer invited Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri, founder of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) to give public lectures at his East-West Arts Gallery.

[5] A list of notable alumni from Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, in alphabetical order by last name.