School of the Art Institute of Chicago

School of the Art Institute of Chicago Features Top-Notch Graduate Division

Located in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, the graduate division of the historic School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has consistently earned a reputation as one of the most respected fine arts graduate programs in the country. SAIC is associated with the Art Institute of Chicago, America's second largest art museum after the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Since 1936, SAIC's graduates have included many internationally acclaimed artists, including painter Georgia O'Keefe; fashion designer Halston; painter Grant Wood; sculptor Claes Oldenburg; political cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize winner Herblock; artist and illustrator LeRoy Neiman; multimedia artist Rirkrit Tiravanija; and painter, critic, and curator Robert Storr.

SAIC's graduate division in Chicago, Illinois, offers master's degrees in specialty areas such as architecture; arts administration and policy; new arts journalism; art therapy; and design in fashion, body, and garment. SAIC also offers Master of Fine Arts degrees in studio and writing.

The esteemed faculty of practicing artists and scholars encourages graduate students to work as multidisciplinary arts practitioners. By opening their minds to the points of view of other studio and academic departments, students are able to deeply examine their personal orientation. This pivotal experience often takes their art making or scholarship to new levels of creativity.

Amidst an Illinois city with a rich history of art, design, and urbanism, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is committed to its vital role of educating artists, designers, and intellectuals who will shape the cultural fabric of the city and beyond.

Chicago's World-Class Art Museums Give SAIC Faculty and Graduate Students the Best Research Facilities for their Studies

The acclaimed faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has the expertise and background to guide graduate students toward the most productive realization of their abilities and interests. The faculty presents students with varied approaches to art making and scholarship. As practicing artists and scholars, members of the faculty have first-hand knowledge and experience to guide students through important questions that serve as catalysts to artistic and scholarly growth.

The prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a full partner with the Art Institute of Chicago, a world-renowned fine art museum with encyclopedic permanent collections including Impressionistic and Post-Impressionistic art, Old Masters, American art, European and American decorative arts, Asian art, and modern and contemporary art. With this vast treasure trove next door, graduate art students have exceptional research facilities at their fingertips where they can begin to research and explore the definitive works that have shaped art and design through the ages.

The Art Institute of Chicago is just one amazing institution in a city that has become a world-class art destination. Chicago gives graduate students a rich landscape overflowing with creativity where students will always be challenged and inspired and never run out of places to research art and design. A perfect city to investigate art, culture, and community today, Chicago is filled with big and little museums; specialty museums; not-for-profit alternative spaces; high-end commercial galleries; and young, start-up communal spaces, arts organizations, and artist residency programs.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago Offers Master of Arts Degrees and Graduate Degrees in Fine Arts

Opportunities for artists in society are growing and are increasingly recognized and valued. A Master of Arts degree or graduate degree in fine arts or design from SAIC prepares graduate students for successful careers in institutions, organizations, and workplaces by integrating theory and practice and by stressing the importance of access and agency within the working world.

To fully engage each Master of Arts student and those pursuing a graduate degree in fine arts or design, the curriculum promotes the school's philosophy of cross-disciplinary study so that students have the maximum advantage in their future work as artists and cultural workers and develop the invaluable skill of collaborating and communicating well with others.

Many of SAIC's faculty also work across disciplines in their own art making and are well versed in contemporary, theoretical debates. As leaders in their respective fields, they help create a diverse, exciting environment for exchanging ideas and techniques.

One of numerous graduate degree programs, the Master of Fine Arts in Studio curriculum encourages experimentation, play, and avant-garde practice in and out of the studio. Graduate-level courses and topical seminars support artists' individual studio work by exposing them to larger dialogues regarding the production, exhibition, and function of art, architecture, and design, in addition to art history, theory, and criticism classes. Stimulating discussions at interdisciplinary seminars further enhance the graduate degree in fine arts by allowing MFA students to view and critique a wide variety of art and the many generative approaches to studio practice.

• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Graduate Division
• Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects
• Department of Art and Technology Studies
• Department of Ceramics
• Department of Fiber and Material Studies
• Department of Film, Video, and New Media
• Department of Painting and Drawing
• Department of Performance
• Department of Photography
• Department of Printmaking
• Department of Sculpture
• Department of Sound
• Department of Video
• Department of Visual Communication
• Program in Art Education and Art Teaching
• Program in Arts Administration and Policy
• Program in Art Therapy
• Program in Designed Objects
• Program in Design for Emerging Technologies
• Program in Fashion, Body, and Garment
• Program in Historic Preservation
• Program in Interior Architecture
• Program in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism
• Program in New Arts Journalism
• Program in Visual and Critical Studies
• Program in Writing

• Gender
• Total Graduate Students602
• Female Percentage67%
• Male Percentage33%
• Participation
• Total Graduate Students602
• Part-time Percentage25%
• Full-time Percentage75%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic / LatinoNot Reported
• Black / African AmericanNot Reported
• White / CaucasianNot Reported
• American Indian / Alaskan NativeNot Reported
• AsianNot Reported
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific IslanderNot Reported
• Two or more racesNot Reported
• UnknownNot Reported

• Faculty Breakout
• Total Faculty133
• Full-time Percentage46%
• Part-time Percentage54%
• Female Percentage47%
• Male Percentage53%