A visit to School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)

SAIC is located in several downtown blocks of Chicago. This private art school (2,800 undergraduate, 800 graduate students) claims Millennium Park (home of the intriguing Chicago Bean sculpture) as their quad, and the city of Chicago and the historic Art Institute of Chicago (which houses the third largest museum art collection in the world), as part of their urban campus.  In fact, all undergraduates are required to take six credit hours off-campus via an internship, special Chicago-city based research or study trips abroad. 

SAIC’s unique interdisciplinary curriculum stands out because students do not declare a major.  Instead, they chose to work across different media, and mentor with renowned practicing artists and designers who serve as the faculty.  As first year students, they are encouraged to learn how to use all the tools available to all students and then realize their creative work through exposure, experimentation, and collaboration. This highly individualized work process is supported and challenged through a very rigorous critique. SAIC does not issue letter grades for completed work. Instead, a student is expected to use the critique and feedback process to guide their work, mimicking the self-discipline needed to sustain work after graduating from art school.  

Each of the disciplines have a workshop, a resource library, classroom and collaboration workspaces, and all the tools and gear you can imagine!  On our tour we visited the Sharp Building which is the home of Fiber & Material Studies. Inside, the designed objects workshop was filled with unique furniture building tools, we saw a full studio of weaving looms, and talked briefly with the fashion library curator of one of the most amazing costumes and period clothing collections. One of the exciting collaborations we learned about - Chicago based Crate & Barrel selects their favorite chair annually from the design studio and features it in their catalog.  

Residence halls are situated in the Chicago Loop District, steps away from academic buildings and tourist attractions. Dorms have kitchenettes and common areas, and 24-hour studio workspaces.  On the top floor of the 162 Building is a wet studio complete with a fully-ventilated room for spray painting and painting projects. Regardless of where one lives, full time students have unlimited use of the Chicago’s mass transit buses and trains (CTA) with their U-Pass, which gives them easy access to grocery and shopping.

Early College Program Summer Institute - earn college credit, successful completion of the program waives the portfolio requirement for admission to SAIC’s undergraduate program.