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The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...
associated with the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
(AIC) in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and school, SAIC has been accredited since 1936 by the
Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...
, by the
National Association of Schools of Art and Design The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees ...
since 1944 (charter member), and by the
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) is a non-profit consortium of 36 art and design schools in the United States and Canada. All AICAD member institutions have a curriculum with full liberal arts and sciences require ...
(AICAD) since the associations founding in 1991. Additionally it is accredited by the
National Architectural Accrediting Board The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), established in 1940, is the oldest accrediting agency for architectural education in the United States. The NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. r ...
. In a 2002 survey conducted by Columbia University's National Arts Journalism Program, SAIC was named the “most influential art school” in the United States. Its downtown Chicago campus consists of seven buildings located in the immediate vicinity of the AIC building. SAIC is in an equal partnership with the AIC and shares many administrative resources such as design, construction, and human resources. The campus, located in the Loop, comprises chiefly five main buildings: the McLean Center (112 S. Michigan Ave.), the Michigan building (116 S Michigan Ave), the Sharp (36 S. Wabash Ave.), Sullivan Center (37 S. Wabash Ave.), and the Columbus (280 S. Columbus Dr.). SAIC also holds classes in the Spertus building at 610 S. Michigan. SAIC owns additional buildings throughout Chicago that are used as student galleries or investments. There are three dormitory facilities: The Buckingham, Jones Hall, and 162 N State Street residencies.


History

The institute has its roots in the 1866 founding of the Chicago Academy of Design, which local artists established in rented rooms on Clark Street. It was financed by member dues and patron donations. Four years later, the school moved into its own Adams Street building, which was destroyed in the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871 The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...
. Because of the school's financial and managerial problems after this loss, business leaders in 1878 formed a
board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
and founded the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. They expanded its mission beyond education and exhibitions to include collecting. In 1882, the academy was renamed the Art Institute of Chicago. The banker
Charles L. Hutchinson Charles Lawrence Hutchinson (March 7, 1854 – October 7, 1924) was a prominent Chicago business leader and philanthropist who is best remembered today as the founding and long-time president of the Art Institute of Chicago. Background Hutch ...
served as its elected president until his death in 1924. The school grew to become among the "most influential" art schools in the United States. Walter E. Massey served as president from 2010–July 2016. The current president is Elissa Tenny, formerly the school's provost.


Academics

SAIC offers classes in art and technology; arts administration; art history, theory, and criticism; art education and
art therapy Art therapy (not to be confused with ''arts therapy'', which includes other creative therapies such as drama therapy and music therapy) is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art thera ...
; ceramics; fashion design; filmmaking; historic preservation; architecture; interior architecture; designed objects; journalism; painting and drawing; performance; photography; printmaking; sculpture; sound; new media; video; visual communication; visual and critical studies; animation; illustration; fiber; and writing. SAIC also serves as a resource for issues related to the position and importance of the arts in society. SAIC also offers an interdisciplinary Low-Residency MFA for students wishing to study the fine arts and/or writing.


Chicago Architects Oral History Project

In 1983, the Department of Architecture began the ''Chicago Architects Oral History Project'', more than 78 architects have contributed.


Demographics

As of fall 2018, the student enrollment at SAIC is demographically classified as follows: Total Enrollment: 3,640 Undergraduate students: 2,895 Graduate students: 745 Sex: Female: 74.3% Male: 25.7% International and ethnic origin: International students: 33% (countries represented: 67) United States students: 67%, further subdivided as follows: White: 32.6% Hispanic: 10.4% Asian or Pacific Islander: 8.9% African American: 3.3% American Indian: 0.2% Multiethnic: 2.8% Not Specified: 8.4% Geographic distribution of United States students: Midwest: 41.2% (includes 8.8% from Chicago) Northeast: 16.5% West: 19.4% South: 22.8%


Activities


Visiting Artists Program

Founded in 1868, the Visiting Artists Program (VAP) is one of the oldest public programs of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Formalized in 1951 by Flora Mayer Witkowsky's endowment of a supporting fund, the Visiting Artists Program hosts public presentations by artists, designers, and scholars each year in lectures, symposia, performances, and screenings. It showcases work in all media, including sound, video, performance, poetry, painting, and independent film; in addition to significant curators, critics, and art historians. Recent visiting artists have included
Catherine Opie Catherine Sue Opie (born 1961) is an American fine-art photographer and educator. She lives and works in Los Angeles, as a professor of photography at University of California at Los Angeles. Opie studies the connections between mainstream and i ...
,
Andi Zeisler Andi Zeisler (born c. 1972, New York) is a writer and co-founder of ''Bitch Media'', a nonprofit feminist media organization based in Portland, Oregon. Biography In 1994, Zeisler graduated from the Colorado College with a BA in fine art. After ...
,
Aaron Koblin Aaron Koblin (born January 14, 1982) is an American digital media artist and entrepreneur best known for his innovative use of data visualization and his pioneering work in crowdsourcing, virtual reality, and interactive film. He is co-founder an ...
,
Jean Shin Jean Shin (born 1971) is an American artist living in Brooklyn, NY. She is known for creating elaborate sculptures and site-specific installations using accumulated cast-off materials. Personal life Shin was born in Seoul, South Korea and moved ...
,
Sam Lipsyte Sam Lipsyte (born 1968) is an American novelist and short story writer. Life The son of the sports journalist Robert Lipsyte, Sam Lipsyte was born in New York City and raised in Closter, New Jersey, where he attended Northern Valley Regional High ...
,
Ben Marcus Ben Marcus (born October 11, 1967) is an American author and professor at Columbia University. He has written four books of fiction. His stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in publications including ''Harper's'', ''The New Yorker'', ''The P ...
,
Marilyn Minter Marilyn Minter (born 1948) is an American visual artist who is perhaps best known for her sensual paintings and photographs done in the photorealism style that blur the line between commercial and fine art. Minter currently teaches in the MFA de ...
,
Pearl Fryar Pearl Fryar (born December 4, 1939) is an American topiary artist living in Bishopville, South Carolina. Biography Pearl Fryar was born on December 4, 1939 in Clinton, North Carolina to a sharecropper family. In the late 1950s, he attended ...
,
Tehching Hsieh Tehching (Sam) Hsieh (謝德慶; born 31 December 1950; Nan-Chou, Pingtung County, Taiwan) is a US performance artist of Taiwanese background. He has been called a "master" by fellow performance artist Marina Abramović. Early life Hsieh was one ...
,
Homi K. Bhabha Homi Kharshedji Bhabha (; born 1 November 1949) is an Indian-British scholar and critical theorist. He is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is one of the most important figures in contemporary post ...
,
Bill Fontana Bill Fontana (born April 25, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio) is known internationally for his pioneering experiments in sound art. Life and career Fontana attended the New School for Social Research in New York and studied both music and philosophy. ...
,
Wolfgang Laib Wolfgang Laib (born 25 March 1950 in Metzingen, Germany) is a German artist, predominantly known as a sculptor. He lives and works in a small village in southern Germany, maintaining studios in New York City, New York and South India. His work has ...
, Suzanne Lee, and
Amar Kanwar Amar Kanwar was born in New Delhi in 1964 where he continues to live and work as a filmmaker. Kanwar studied at the Department of History, Ramjas College, University of Delhi, Delhi University (1982-1985), and at the Mass Communication Research ...
among others. Additionally, the Distinguished Alumni Series brings alumni back to the community to present their work and reflect on how their experiences at SAIC have shaped them. Recent alumni speakers include
Tania Bruguera Tania Bruguera (born 1968 in Havana, Cuba) is an artist and activist who focuses on installation and performance art. She lives and works between New York City and Havana, and has participated in numerous international exhibitions. Her work is in ...
,
Jenni Sorkin Jenni Sorkin (born August 29, 1977) is an American art historian, curator, and educator. She is best known for her writing in art criticism, and for highlighting work by feminist artists and artists working in fiber and associated crafts. B ...
, Kori Newkirk, Maria Martinez-Cañas,
Saya Woolfalk Saya Woolfalk (born 1979, Gifu City, Japan) is an American artist known for her multimedia exploration of hybridity, science, race and sex. Woolfalk uses science fiction and fantasy to reimagine the world in multiple dimensions. Currently repre ...
, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba,
Trevor Paglen Trevor Paglen (born 1974) is an American artist, geographer, and author whose work tackles mass surveillance and data collection. In 2016, Paglen won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and he has also won The Cultural Award from the ...
, and
Sanford Biggers Sanford Biggers (born 1970 in Los Angeles) is a Harlem-based interdisciplinary artist who works in film/video, installation, sculpture, music, and performance.
to name a few.


Galleries

*SAIC Galleries - Located at 33 E. Washington Street, SAIC Galleries occupies four floors and offers 26,000 square feet of exhibition space for annual student and faculty shows, as well as special exhibitions featuring national and international artists. *Sullivan Galleries- Located to the 7th floor of the Sullivan Center at 33 S. State Street. With shows and projects often led by faculty or student curators, it is a teaching gallery. In the Spring of 2020 SAIC announced it would relocate its galleries and Department of Exhibitions & Exhibition Studies from 33 S. State Street to 33 E. Washington Street after ten years of operation. *SITE Galleries (formerly Student Union Galleries) - Founded in 1994, SITE, once known as the Student Union Galleries (SUGs), is a ''student-run'' organization at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for the exhibition of ''student work''. They have two locations: The SITE Sharp of the 37 South Wabash Avenue building; and SITE Columbus of the 280 South Columbus Drive building. The two locations allow the galleries to cycle two shows simultaneously.


Student organizations


ExTV

ExTV is a student-run time-arts platform that broadcasts online and on campus. Its broadcasts are available via monitors located throughout the 112 S. Michigan building, the 37 S Wabash building, and the 280 S. Columbus building.


''F Newsmagazine''

''F Newsmagazine'' is SAIC's student-run newspaper. The magazine is a monthly publication with a run of 12,000 copies. Copies are distributed throughout the city, mainly at locations frequented by students such as popular diners and movie theaters.


Free Radio SAIC

Free Radio SAIC is the student-run Internet radio station of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Free Radio uses an open programming format and encourage its DJs to explore and experiment with the medium of live radio. Program content and style vary but generally include music from all genres, sound art, narratives, live performances, current events and interviews. Featured bands and guests on Free Radio SAIC include
Nü Sensae Nü Sensae is a Canadian punk and grunge trio from Vancouver composed of bassist-vocalist Andrea Lukic, drummer Daniel Pitout, and guitarist Brody McKnight. In 2012, ''Spin'' magazine named them in their list of top 5 best new artists. Nü Sensa ...
,
The Black Belles The Black Belles is an American all-female "garage goth" rock band formed in Nashville in 2009. The band consist of Olivia Jean (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Ruby Rogers (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Shelby Lynne (drums, backing vocals). For ...
, Thomas Comerford,
Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...
,
Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...
,
Carolyn Lawrence Carolyn Lawrence (born February 13, 1967), is an American television, film and voice actress. She is known for her voice roles on Nickelodeon animated shows, including Sandy Cheeks on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', Cindy Vortex on ''Jimmy Neutro ...
, and much more.


Student government

The student government of SAIC is unique in that its constitution requires four officers holding equal power and responsibility. Elections are held every year. There are no campaign requirements. Any group of four students may run for office, but there must always be four students. The student government is responsible for hosting a school-wide student meeting once a month. At these meetings students discuss school concerns of any nature. The predominant topic is funding for the various student organizations. Organizations which desire funding must present a proposal at the meeting by which the students vote whether they should receive monies or not. The student government cannot participate in the vote: only oversee it.


Ranking

In a survey conducted by the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, SAIC was named the “most influential art school” by art critics at general interest news publications from across the United States. `the school has a graduation rate of 68%. In 2017, '' U.S. News & World Report's'' college rankings ranked SAIC the fourth best overall graduate program for fine arts in the U.S. tying with the Rhode Island school of Design. In January 2013, The
Global Language Monitor The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is a company based in Austin, Texas that collectively documents, analyzes, and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. It is particularly known for its ...
ranked SAIC as the #5 college in the U.S., the highest ever for an art or design school in a general college ranking. In 2020 and 2021, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked SAIC as the second best overall graduate program for fine arts in the U.S. tied with Yale University. In 2021, the university was ranked the seventh globally according to the QS World University Rankings by the subject Art and Design.


Notable people


Controversy


''Mirth & Girth''

On May 11, 1988, a student painting depicting
Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as ma ...
, the first black mayor of Chicago, was taken down by three of the city's African-American
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
based on its content. The painting by David Nelson, titled ''Mirth & Girth'', was of Washington clad only in women's underwear and holding a pencil. Washington had died suddenly less than six months earlier, on November 25, 1987. After the aldermen held the painting hostage, Police Superintendent
LeRoy Martin LeRoy Martin (1929 − August 31, 2013) was an American police officer for the Chicago Police Department. In November 1987, Martin became the third African-American and second permanent to serve as superintendent of the department, following t ...
ordered officers to take it into custody. Art students protested. The painting was returned after a day. The
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
(ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department and the aldermen. The ACLU claimed the removal violated Nelson's First, Fourth, and Fourteenth amendment rights. A 1992 federal court affirmed his constitutional rights had been violated. In 1994 the city agreed to a settlement to end litigation; the money would go toward attorneys' fees for the ACLU. The three aldermen agreed not to appeal the 1992 ruling, and the Police Department established procedures over seizure of materials protected by the First Amendment.


''What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?''

In February 1989, as part of a piece entitled ''What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?'', a student named "Dread" Scott Tyler spread a
Flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rect ...
on the floor of the institute. The piece consisted of a podium, set upon the flag, and containing a notebook for viewers to express how they felt about the exhibit. In order for viewers to write in the notebook, they would have to walk on the flag, which is a violation of customary practice and code. While the exhibit faced protests from veterans and bomb threats, the school stood by the student's art. That year, the school's state funding was cut from $70,000 to $1, and the piece was publicly condemned by President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
. Scott would go on to be one of the defendants in ''
United States v. Eichman ''United States v. Eichman'', 496 U.S. 310 (1990), was a United States Supreme Court case that invalidated a federal law against flag desecration as a violation of free speech under the First Amendment. It was argued together with the case ''Unite ...
'', a
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case in which it was eventually decided that federal laws banning flag desecration were unconstitutional.


Academic freedom controversy

In 2017, a controversy arose after Michael Bonesteel, an
adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
specializing in
outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...
, and comics, resigned after actions taken by the institute following two
Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
complaints by transgender students being filed against him in which each criticized his comments and class discussion. The institute initiated an investigation and took certain actions. Bonesteel described the SAIC investigation as a "Kafkaesque trial", in which he was never shown copies of the complaints. He claimed he was assumed to be "guilty until proven innocent" and that SAIC "feels more like a police state than a place where academic freedom and the open exchange of ideas is valued".
Laura Kipnis Laura Kipnis is an American cultural critic and essayist. Her work focuses on sexual politics, gender issues, aesthetics, popular culture, and pornography. She began her career as a video artist, exploring similar themes in the form of video ess ...
, author of a book on Title IX cases in which she argues that universities follow reckless and capricious approaches, argued that SAIC was displaying "jawdropping cowardice". She said, "The idea that students are trying to censor or curb a professor’s opinions or thinking is appalling".Tom Bartlett, "The Offender", ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'', August 10, 2017. Available online to subscribers only. The school said the claims made against it were "problematic" and "misleading", and that it supports
academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
.


Property

This is a list of property in order of acquisition: * 280 South Columbus (classrooms, departmental offices, studios, Betty Rymer Gallery) *37 South Wabash (classrooms, main administrative offices, Flaxman Library) *112 South Michigan (classrooms, departmental offices, studios, ballroom) *7 West Madison (student residences) *162 North State (student residences) *164 North State Street (
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
Film Center) *116 South Michigan SAIC also owns these properties outside of the immediate vicinity of the Chicago Loop: *1926 North Halsted (gallery space) in Chicago. *
Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists Residency The Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists' Residency is an artists' residency program in Saugatuck, Michigan, United States, founded in 1908 by artists Frederick Fursman and Walter Marshall Clute, both of whom taught at the School of the Art Institut ...
, Saugatuck,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
(affiliated with SAIC) SAIC leases: *36 South Wabash, leasing the 12th floor (administrative offices, Architecture and Interior Architecture Design Center) *36 South Wabash, leasing the 7th floor (Fashion Design department, Gallery 2) *36 South Wabash, leasing offices on the 14th floor (administrative offices) *36 South Wabash, leasing offices on the 15th floor (administrative offices)


Academic partnerships

*
Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
(United Kingdom)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago Universities and colleges in Chicago Art schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1866 Film schools in Illinois Art museums and galleries in Chicago 1866 establishments in Illinois Arts organizations established in 1866 Private universities and colleges in Illinois Oral history