School of the Art Institute of Chicago

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From the College

Since its founding in 1866, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been providing a leading global vision for the education of artists, designers, and others who shape contemporary art practice. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s primary purpose is to foster the conceptual and technical education of artists, designers, and scholars in a highly professional, studio-oriented, and academically rigorous environment, encouraging excellence, critical inquiry, and experimentation. In 2002, SAIC was recognized as “the most influential art school in the nation” by a poll conducted by Columbia University and a panel of national art critics. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked SAIC’s Master of Fine Arts program as number one of the top three in the nation.

SAIC’s 2,359 undergraduate and more than 631 graduate students and a faculty of artists, designers, and scholars work in an environment that facilitates the exchange of ideas, the sharing of resources, and the critiquing and refining of technical abilities and conceptual concerns.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is distinguished from other art and design schools in the breadth and depth of its curriculum in both studio and academic areas, with more than 900 courses offered each semester. SAIC is committed to interdisciplinary exploration and the awareness that the boundaries between artistic fields are not always easily defined. Students are encouraged to experience the full range of studio practices and academic approaches; they do not declare a major but are free to design a path of study that best suits their creative development. A student may choose to do all their course work in one area of study or amongst multiple department areas. SAIC’s credit/no-credit grading system encourages students to investigate, develop, or resolve a creative problem by exploring new approaches and to develop the self-motivation and discipline necessary for life as a practicing artist, designer, and scholar in the twenty-first century.

The Departments of Liberal Arts and Art History are central to the life of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and underscore one of SAIC’s primary commitments: to enrich a strong studio program with a first-rate, nationally and regionally accredited liberal arts education. SAIC has one of the largest art history departments in the nation and is the only college in the country that offers a systematic series of courses on the history, theory, and philosophical bases of art criticism, taught by contemporary critics and scholars.

Students may live in one of two distinctive residence halls with loft-style rooms, each with their own bathroom, kitchen, voice mail, and Internet access. The residence halls have 24-hour security and controlled access as well as spacious, well-lit studios, lounge rooms with big screen TVs, computer labs, and laundry facilities. Students can immerse themselves in a community of fellow artists, live in the heart of Chicago’s loop, and enjoy conveniences unavailable in most student apartments.

Students have access to a wide variety of unique resources, beginning with the premiere collection of SAIC’s sister institution, the Art Institute of Chicago, and its Ryerson Library and Burnham Library of Architecture, the largest art and architecture research libraries in the country. The Gene Siskel Film Center, located in the same building as the 162 North State Street residence, presents significant programs of world cinema and presentations by an international array of film and video artists. SAIC’s Video Data Bank houses more than 1,600 titles and is the leading resource in the United States for videotapes by and about contemporary artists. The Poetry Center brings renowned poets and writers to Chicago to share their work with the public.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago offers a broad spectrum of services to accommodate its diverse population, including an international student office, multicultural affairs office, health and counseling services, a learning center (offering one-on-one tutoring as well as support services for students with learning disabilities), an extensive program for academic advising, and a Career Development Center.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is located in the heart of downtown Chicago, home to the nation’s second-largest art scene that includes world-class museums, 150 galleries, alternative spaces, and organizations that support the arts. Chicago is a city of diverse neighborhoods, each with its own atmosphere, customs, and cuisine. Students have a wide variety of cultural and recreational resources from which to choose: ballet, opera, theater, orchestra halls, cinemas, libraries, architecture, blues and jazz clubs, parks, ethnic restaurants, a variety of world-class sports venues, and street festivals.

Chicago itself is a vital part of the campus, as a source of social and cultural activities and the stimulus for ideas and attitudes ultimately expressed through art. Peter Frank, art critic and curator says, “Of all American cities, Chicago has contributed the most solid and distinctive artwork and art thinking. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is at the nucleus of this longstanding distinction.”

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is located across the street from an extraordinary space that rivals the quads of any other big-city college or university. Millennium Park is a twenty-first-century marvel, and SAIC, its faculty members, and students played a key role in its realization. One of the signature pieces of public art at the park, the Crown Fountain by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, was created with the assistance of both SAIC students and faculty members, who collaborated with Plensa in producing the 1,000 video portraits that are screened continuously on the fountain’s twin video towers. The park, with its unique mix of art, architecture, and nature, has become an urban oasis for SAIC students.

Students do not declare majors but are free to concentrate in one or any combination of the following areas: animation, architecture, art and technology, art education, art history, ceramics, designed objects, drawing, fashion design, fiber, filmmaking, interior architecture, new media, painting, performance, photography, print media, sculpture, sound, video, visual communication, visual and critical studies, and writing.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in studio allows students to develop a particularized course of study in the visual arts. The openness of the curriculum allows for creative, idiosyncratic, and tailored programs, thereby emulating the very process of art making. Academic advising, provided by the Office of Student Affairs, helps students in determining their particular path of study. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago offers Illinois teacher certification (K–12) through its B.F.A. with an emphasis in art education, with a goal of graduating artists and teachers who are informed and engaged citizens, creators and critics of visual culture. The B.F.A. with an emphasis in art history, theory, and criticism emphasizes art history, theory, and criticism, while allowing students the ability to develop their own studio practice. The B.F.A. with an emphasis in writing offers a solid grounding in literary conventions, a practical exposure to form in fiction and poetry, and an enhanced ability to read and critique peers’ work, while encouraging students to openly explore what “writing” is.

The Bachelor of Arts in visual and critical studies allows students to pursue in-depth academic study in the creative environment of an art school, sharing classes with students in the B.F.A. programs. Core courses provide students with diverse critical methods for exploring the cultural meanings of visual phenomena as they relate to social, economic, and material circumstances.

The Bachelor of Interior Architecture (B.I.A.) is intended for students interested in interdisciplinary study and a focus in contemporary, professional design practices, such as sustainability, embedded and emerging technologies, and designed objects.

Completion of 132 hours is required for the B.F.A. and B.A. degrees; approximately two thirds is in studio areas and one third is in academic course work. All entering students who have completed fewer than 15 credit hours of college-level studio art must enroll in the First Year Experience. Students take liberal arts courses in the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, and social sciences and are required to complete an art history requirement.

The off-campus study requirement is an opportunity for students to gain practical experience at the same time as they gain a broader sense of society and the world.

Students can choose from a wide variety of off-campus programs. The Mobility program allows students to attend partner schools within the United States and Canada and includes the New York Studio semester. SAIC also maintains semester exchange agreements with more than twenty schools in Europe, Asia, and South America. The Off-Campus Programs Office works closely with students to help them develop their individual programs. SAIC faculty members lead study trips during each summer and winter interim session to such destinations as Cuba, New York, Puerto Rico, Venice, and Vietnam.

SAIC is home to the largest and most successful arts-related cooperative education program in the country, providing employment opportunities throughout Chicago and worldwide with individual artists; museums; galleries; multimedia firms; film, video, and animation production houses; interior architecture firms; fashion designers; and community service organizations.

SAIC’s campus encompasses six buildings in downtown Chicago. There are fully equipped studios for each area of concentration, and the School’s policy allows 24-hour access to facilities.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is committed to new technologies and the integration of computer-based resources throughout the curriculum. Currently, more than sixty digital technology courses are taught each semester in nearly all departmental areas. An aggressive laptop program coupled with state-of-the-art facilities and accessible resources provides cutting-edge capability in every corner of the School. Facilities available to all students include general-access computer labs equipped with the latest-model Apple computers and high-end peripherals; a Service Bureau, providing professional digital output, including laser cutting and 3-D printing; a Media Center, offering a wide variety of equipment for student loan; wood and metal shops; and fabrication studios.

The John M. Flaxman Library ‘s 120,000 items – books, magazines, movies, and special collections -- support the entire SAIC curriculum in the arts, liberal arts, and sciences. Web-accessible resources include the School’s own growing digital library, a traditional online library catalog, e-reserves, and a rich assortment of full-text licensed databases. The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection contains more than 3,000 artists’ books along with a research collection of exhibition catalogs and other related material. The MacLean Visual Resource Center maintains a noncirculating collection of more than 500,000 slides.

Exhibition spaces include new and acclaimed Sullivan Galleries offering 32,000 square feet of exhibition space–the only single contemporary exhibition site of its size in the Chicago Loop, and the Betty Rymer Gallery, which highlights work from departments and presents special exhibitions. In addition, Gallery X and the Lounge Gallery, sponsored by the Student Union Galleries, provide exhibition space for currently enrolled students.

Tuition for the 2008–09 academic year was $32,550 for full-time undergraduate students or $1085 per credit hour. For 2008–09, student housing cost $9480 per academic year for a double room.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago makes every effort to assist students who need help in financing their education. Through an extensive financial aid program, a substantial amount of gift aid funding from private, institutional, state, and federal sources is distributed annually. In addition to scholarships and grants, the School grants merit scholarships and offers an extensive college work-study program. To apply for financial aid, students should complete the FAFSA. To receive priority consideration, students should submit completed forms to the Financial Aid Office no later than March 1. All awards are made on a first-come, first-served basis to students in good standing who demonstrate need.

Faculty members are selected for their skills, insight, and dedication as teachers and for their professional accomplishments as artists, designers, and scholars. There are currently more than 600 full- and part-time faculty members, among them NEA grant recipients, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Fellowship recipients, and Rockefeller Foundation grant recipients. SAIC’s faculty members have their work exhibited in museums, galleries, and festivals nationally and internationally. They publish books, plays, poetry, and criticism; organize and curate exhibitions; and design, build, and preserve buildings throughout the world. Each year, 100 or more well-known visiting artists, including poets, political activists, and visual artists, present workshops and provide individual student critiques through the Visiting Artists Program. Notable alumni include Claes Oldenburg, Ivan Albright, Georgia O’Keeffde, David Sedaris, Cynthia Rowley, and Vincente Minnelli.

Student Government officers are elected each spring, and their mission is to promote student interests and concerns to the broader School community by serving on a variety of faculty and administrative staff committees. Student Government also provides funds for the more than forty student groups on campus. All students are encouraged to attend the weekly open Student Government meetings.

To be considered for the undergraduate program, applicants are required to submit an electronic application; a nonrefundable application fee of $65 for domestic students ($85 for international students); a portfolio consisting of ten to fifteen examples of recent work, a minimum of 5 minutes of time-based work, or an “alternative” portfolio submission that demonstrates the applicant’s creative intent; a statement of purpose; transcript(s) from high school(s) or an official copy of the high school equivalency certificate; transcripts from any college previously attended; and one letter of recommendation. Domestic applicants must submit either scores from the SAT or the ACT. Any transfer applicant who has successfully completed the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s English requirements and/or other liberal arts course work at another accredited college may be exempt from standardized test requirements for admission. All international undergraduate students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents or are nonnative English speakers are required to take either the TOEFL or the IELTS.

Prospective students may apply to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago through the Immediate Decision Option (IDO) or the traditional admission procedure. IDO Days allows prospective students who have submitted all their application materials an opportunity to receive an admissions decision by the end of the day while on the SAIC campus.

Those students applying through the traditional admission procedure are required to submit their applications electronically at http://www.artic.edu/saic/ugapp. The applicant’s portfolio and academic credentials are reviewed and evaluated by the Admissions Office. Students are admitted on a rolling basis and are informed of the committee’s decision by mail. Students who anticipate a need for financial assistance are urged to complete their applications for admission and financial aid by February 15 for the fall semester and November 15 for the spring semester in order to receive priority consideration. These dates are also the final deadlines for applicants who wish to be considered for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Merit Scholarship Program.