[17] Commencement speakers have included Susan Sontag, Carrie Mae Weems, Gloria Steinem, Roxane Gay, and John Waters.

[29][30] The library holds books, periodicals, audio recordings, films and other media;[31] the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives, which comprises the collections of Chermayeff & Geismar, Seymour Chwast, Heinz Edelmann, Milton Glaser, Steven Heller, Ed McCabe, James McMullan, Tony Palladino, George Tscherny and Henry Wolf; and the SVA Archives, a repository for materials pertaining to the college's history.

[32][33] The building at 133 to 141 West 21st Street, between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea,[34][35] has studios for drawing and painting classes, and a small library called Library West which houses books specifically on animation, comics, illustration and art therapy.

The building at 132 West 21st Street houses the Visible Futures Lab,[36] a workshop featuring traditional and emerging fabrication technology, which regularly hosts artists in residence.

The 2022 Masters Series Recipient was photographer, MacArthur Genius Grant-, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynsey Addario for her documentation of civilian life in conflict zones; the retrospective was covered by publications such as the New York Times, The Guardian, and Vanity Fair.

Milton Glaser designed the theatre's renovated interior and exterior, including the sculpture situated atop its marquee.

The 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) facility houses two separate auditoriums, one with 265 seats and one with 480, and hosts class meetings, lectures, screenings and other public events.