Arts Admin students listening to instructor in gallery space while looking at large, brightly colored tiles on floor.
Academic Spine

Capstone

Senior Capstone

Background

The Capstone course (CAPSTONE 4900 or DEPT 4900), recommended for the final semester of study at SAIC is an intensive mentoring class focused on the development and/or presentation of culminating student work at the end of their undergraduate studies. The course focuses on assessing the strengths and weaknesses of previous work, developing a focused project or body of work, preparing to present one's work publicly, and sustaining a creative practice after school.

Depending on the department, various Capstone course formats will be offered, including three-hour seminars, three-hour studio seminars, six-hour studios, and six-hour studio symposia. Courses listed as CAPSTONE 4900 are intended to be interdisciplinary and open to all seniors who have completed Professional Practice. Discipline-specific courses with departmental prerequisites are listed with the departmental heading, DEPT 4900.

Capstone is the third and final course in the three-course sequence of Academic Spine courses (Sophomore Seminar, Professional Practice , and Capstone ), which is required for all freshmen who began their undergraduate degrees at SAIC in Fall 2015 and after (transfer students must take Research Studio for Transfer Students, Professional Practice, and Capstone).

Senior Capstone courses are offered in both the fall and spring semesters, to give students flexibility in incorporating this required course into their schedule. CAPSTONE 4900 should always be taken when the student has at least 90 credits completed. Capstone courses do not have to be taken in the student’s last semester at SAIC, but many students plan for this outcome. A minority of Senior Capstone options are linked to the SAIC Undergraduate Exhibition, and the Undergraduate Division and Office of Registration and Records coordinates to ensure students registering in these courses will also be registered for the corresponding Exhibition (fall or spring).

Course Description

The Capstone course assesses your strengths and weaknesses in your studio, scholarly, and/or pedagogical practice through intensive mentoring. You will assemble and document your capstone body of work, and prepare a plan to present your work in a wider context, such as in a capstone exhibition/production/event, in an on-campus or off-campus venue, or in a print or online publication. Due to the demands of this work, you should plan to take Capstone during your final semester of coursework at SAIC.

Many Capstone courses are intended to be interdisciplinary in that students with various material interests could take any of the sections and be engaged by the class conversation and critique. However, Capstone courses may also be highly discipline-specific, reflecting their status as culminating courses in a larger path of study. Students should carefully consider whether they are seeking and eligible for a discipline-specific Capstone within a department, or would benefit from a more interdisciplinary option. SAIC plans to ensure all seniors have viable options when completing this requirement, regardless of how discipline-specific their focus has been. 

Students who wish to locate a faculty mentor within their particular area of study are advised to examine faculty bios and course descriptions in order to select a Capstone course that meets their identified goals and aspirations. Academic advisors can also be helpful resources for helping connect students’ interests and goals with relevant faculty, in this area of the curriculum and all others as well.

Course Learning Goals

At the conclusion of the Capstone course, students will be able to:

  1. Assemble and document a body of focused, self-initiated work that demonstrates conceptual understanding and technical ability (Evidence: Documentation of Practice Project).
  2. Engage in practices of critique that position one's own and others’ work in a diverse range of practices and their histories (Examples of evidence: optional documentation/notes related to student participation in critiques).
  3. Demonstrate the ability to think, speak, and write clearly and effectively with regard to the creative, scholarly, and/or pedagogical practice (Evidence: Documentation of Practice written contextualization).
  4. Prepare a plan to present work in a wider context, such as in a capstone exhibition/production/event, in an on-campus or off-campus venue, or in a print or online publication (Examples of evidence: Participation in an SAIC year-end event such as the Fashion Show or BFA Exhibition; presentation of academic thesis or teaching demonstration; submission of proposal to display work in an on-campus or off-campus venue; publication of work in print or online)
Title Catalog Instructor Schedule

Description

The administration of art and culture is one that operates through institutional pathways towards aesthetic creativity and colelctive ways of life. The administrator, in the role of artistic director, creative lead, or cultural project manager, bridges these registers. It is therefore within these different roles between artists and administrators that we encounter an opportunity to test and experiment with different practices. Ranging from topics such as project budgeting, documentation, and planning to creative influence, relationship management, and conceptual translations, this course teaches practical skills while exploring how they might be framed by critical policy conversations and artistic practice. This course will draw on individual projects that have been previously developed and executed as case studies. We will observe readings that inform cultural funding models, like the NEA, through an approach that considers who these processes have historically developed. Students will be exposed to design thinking, project management, current cultural policy (US); urban cultural plans, contemporary commentary on within the current economy, fundraising, and programming models. Students will begin the process of grant writing, communication strategies, and evaluation metrics. Course work will vary but typically will include weekly readings, and a gradual build of a semester-long project. This will include the development of a project plan, a budget, and working timeline.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

2285

Credits

3

Department

Arts Administration and Policy

Area of Study

Art/Design and Politics, Community & Social Engagement, Economic Inequality & Class

Location

MacLean 111

Description

This course is a forum for in-depth critiques, technical, conceptual, and professional practice discussions based on the student?s practice and research. The goal of this class is to provide students information and guidance on how they can continue with their art practice after school. Each student enrolled in the course will be assigned a studio space within the department. The course is open to Seniors only who have previously taken 9 credit hours of Ceramics classes, 2000-level and above. Students signing up for this class must also be enrolled in any 3 credit hour Ceramics class, 2000-level and above. Seniors may enroll in this course for two consecutive semesters only. Some of the books we will use as a reference for this class may be Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 by Sharon Louden and 33 Artists in 3 Acts by Sarah Thornton. Additionally, students will present to the class about an artist or thinker. The format for this course is primary individual and group meetings, readings, presentations, field trips, exhibitions, and group critiques. Additionally, we will have a discussion with guest artists speaking and about their work and the technicalities of how to continue with their art practice. Students will learn how to document, install, and promote their work. It is expected of the students to self direct their own project culminating with a final exhibition project as part of their BFA or Gallery 1922.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1266

Credits

3

Department

Ceramics

Location

280 Building Rm 109

Description

This fashion capstone course explores methods and processes for research, planning, and production leading up to the installation of a body of work. Students will consider the space, duration, audience, and partners as they develop mock-ups and draft proposals and pitches. Students contemplate curation for solo or group exhibits, work in teams, and gain professional practice as they lay the groundwork for development of a fully considered display. The class will have the opportunity to conceive, curate and build out a public facing installation, either in the Fashion Department Exhibition Space, or as part of the annual spring show.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

2142

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Exhibition and Curatorial Studies, Public Space, Site, Landscape

Location

Sullivan Center 704

Description

This interdisciplinary capstone, with an emphasis on contemporary photography and visual culture, is structured as an intensive critique and mentoring class focused on the development and presentation of culminating work at the end of the BFA and the continued progression of studio work beyond the BFA exhibition. The course supports the production of self-initiated work, a successful BFA show and a road map for a sustainable art practice after graduation. Preparations for the BFA exhibition include workshopping project proposals, budgets, production schedules, the development of new work and an array of possible final presentation forms. Readings, screenings and discussions will examine useful models of participation in cultural production and a critical framework for analyzing a range of platforms to share work online, in print and exhibition. Studio visits will provide insight into the day-to-day life of artists at various stages in their career ranging from current SAIC grad students to working professionals. Online and printed portfolios utilizing an ever-evolving archive of work will be refined along with professional supporting materials such as statements, CVs and artist talks necessary for a professional practice beyond graduation.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1270

Credits

3

Department

Photography

Area of Study

Books and Publishing, Social Media and the Web

Location

280 Building Rm 215

Description

Designed for advanced-level Printmedia students, this course centers the studio as a site for physical and conceptual production. A combination of independent work time, individual meetings, group critiques and assigned prompts form the bulk of course programming. Students are expected to set personal goals informed by dialogue with course faculty and studio peers. Attention will be paid to independent practices and/or professional strategies beyond school. The course supports student production of a focused body of creative work. Students accepted into this section will be given an undergraduate studio in the 280 Building. Please note that during class time, students in this section don't have access to any print facilities other than their studio space. Application is required for consideration.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1267

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 203

Description

In this class we will prepare the student for life out of school through looking at at the lives of artists through their writings and biographies. Artists writings/biographies will include Joan Mitchell, Fairfield Porter, Andrey Tarkovsky, Seth Price, Laura Owens, among others. Group critiques and a field trip to an artist studio will be included, as well as practical advice on documenting work and writing artist statements.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1268

Credits

3

Department

Painting and Drawing

Area of Study

Community & Social Engagement, Exhibition and Curatorial Studies

Location

280 Building Rm 120

Description

This interdisciplinary studio seminar provides a grounding in concepts, histories, practices, and potentialities of the field as reflected in the department's four curricular themes: Permanence and Ephemerality, Public Practice, Space and Place, and Systems. It is designed to help students develop, document and position a body of focused, self-initiated work that demonstrates conceptual understanding and technical ability in relation to the evolving field of contemporary sculpture. In-depth faculty mentoring and peer discussion supports students as they prepare a public presentation or exhibition of their work. In addition to addressing specific themes identified by individual faculty, the class examines tensions and connections between sculpture, architecture, designed objects and new media as they extend and complicate our notions of an expanded sculptural field.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

2178

Credits

3

Department

Sculpture

Location

280 Building Rm 032

Description

Students who enroll in Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition will participate in the fall exhibition at SAIC Galleries and will be ineligible to participate in the spring exhibition. Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. This interdisciplinary capstone class is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their practice and to help contextualize their work in preparation for their Senior Exhibition. An assessment of previous work will be the starting point for ongoing critical inquiry into your creative professional practice, and how you might position and locate your own work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary. Class visits by local artists will provide the opportunity to have a conversation about their lived experience sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a body of work or project for the Senior Exhibition, building a strong portfolio, and planning for post-SAIC life.

Prerequisites

Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. Students must have also completed a 3900 level course

Class Number

1262

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

MacLean B1-04

Description

This interdisciplinary critique seminar is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their studio work while proceeding toward an outward-facing practice beyond graduation. An assessment of previous projects will be the starting point for an ongoing critical examination of your creative practice, through which you will be asked to contextualize and position your work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. This course is a forum for in-depth individual and group critiques with technical and conceptual discussions tailored to your practice and research. In addition to various readings, screenings, and field trips, class visits by local artists and curators will provide the opportunity for conversation about the lived experience of sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a focused, self-initiated Senior Project, a strong portfolio, and the tools for maintaining an independent studio practice.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1271

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

Online

Description

This class is premised on the idea that language – spoken, written, published, discursed, and so on – constitutes immense potential for studio practice. Creative textual practices abound in poetry, essays, fiction, print, painting, installation, screen and web technologies, and lectures, but perhaps even more intriguingly, in the figurative and literal margins of these practices. Students will be tasked with executing self-initiated projects, thinking critically about their own and others’ work, planning and implementing detailed proposals, and engaging in wider cultures that influence contemporary language practices. Class sessions will include individual work time supported by mentoring with faculty as well as critique. The class includes viewing the work of a set of artists and writers who are diverse both in terms of identity and in practice. Examples range from formal play with text to political engagements. Artists and writers to be considered include but are not limited to Glenn Ligon, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Mel Bochner, Christine Sun Kim, Tony Lewis, Lawrence Weiner, Kay Rosen, Edgar Heap of Birds, Susan Howe, Hito Steyerl, Raymond Pettibon, Aram Saroyan, Robin Deacon, Gregg Bordowitz, Nyeema Morgan, Bruce Nauman, Jessica Vaughn, Sol LeWitt, Kenneth Goldsmith, Hans Haake, Ed Rucha, Martin Creed, Gertrude Stein, Settler Colonial City Project, Forensic Architecture, Christian Bök, Christopher Wool, Joseph Grigely, and Park McArthur. As a Capstone class, students will be challenged to discuss their practice effectively and engage in critical dialog with their peers as well as interrogate how language becomes assembled and documented material. This may include investigating strategies of exhibition and publication.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course or graduate student

Class Number

1273

Credits

3

Department

Visual and Critical Studies

Area of Study

Art/Design and Politics, Books and Publishing

Location

MacLean B1-04

Description

How do we perform acts of kindness for our communities and ourselves? What does and can, kindness and care look like as an act and actions of expanded performance. How do we create and cultivate practices of everyday life that shift and transform? What inspires a stranger to be kind to another? What motivates someone to step out of their bubble and go out of their way to help a person they don’t know? This Capstone class will create unconventional collaborations inside and outside of SAIC, considering careful and caring ways to work with each other and other members of our community in the city of Chicago. People we will look at in this course include William Kentridge, Doris Salcedo, Carrie Mae Weems. Michael Landy, Christine Sun Kim, Tania Bruguera, Catherine Sullivan. Podcasts On Being, Hidden Brain, and writings of Katherine May, Sharon Brous, Lisa Samuels and Early AIDS Epidemic Nurses Ellen Matzer and Valery Hughes. We will also work with AIDS Foundation Chicago and Howard Brown Health Centre. Coursework will include: 1. Present a proposal with your CAPSTONE intentions that considers models of kindness and actions of self and others in the community 2. Complete a focused body of work that is presented at Howard Brown Health Centre or AIDS Foundation Chicago 3. Develop exit strategies for how to sustain a practice outside of the institute through public community engagements.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

2326

Credits

3

Department

Performance

Area of Study

Gender and Sexuality, Class, Race, Ethnicity, Community & Social Engagement

Location

280 Building Rm 012

Description

This course facilitates students who have progressed beyond the advanced 3000 level classes offered by the Department of Printmedia. Students are expected to be self-motivated and capable of working in an interdisciplinary and mature fashion. Students accepted into this section will have access to print facilities during class, with the exception of Room 220. Application is required for consideration.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1269

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 222, 280 Building Rm 221, 280 Building Rm 223, 280 Building Rm 203

Description

This course facilitates students who have progressed beyond the advanced 3000 level classes offered by the Department of Printmedia. Students are expected to be self-motivated and capable of working in an interdisciplinary and mature fashion. Students accepted into this section will have access to print facilities during class, with the exception of Room 220. Application is required for consideration.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 3900 course

Class Number

1269

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 222, 280 Building Rm 221, 280 Building Rm 223, 280 Building Rm 203

Description

Students who enroll in Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition will participate in the fall exhibition at SAIC Galleries and will be ineligible to participate in the spring exhibition. Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. This interdisciplinary capstone class is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their practice and to help contextualize their work in preparation for their Senior Exhibition. An assessment of previous work will be the starting point for ongoing critical inquiry into your creative professional practice, and how you might position and locate your own work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary. Class visits by local artists will provide the opportunity to have a conversation about their lived experience sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a body of work or project for the Senior Exhibition, building a strong portfolio, and planning for post-SAIC life.

Prerequisites

Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. Students must have also completed a 3900 level course

Class Number

1263

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

MacLean B1-04

Description

Students who enroll in Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition will participate in the fall exhibition at SAIC Galleries and will be ineligible to participate in the spring exhibition. Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. This interdisciplinary capstone class is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their practice and to help contextualize their work in preparation for their Senior Exhibition. An assessment of previous work will be the starting point for ongoing critical inquiry into your creative professional practice, and how you might position and locate your own work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary. Class visits by local artists will provide the opportunity to have a conversation about their lived experience sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a body of work or project for the Senior Exhibition, building a strong portfolio, and planning for post-SAIC life.

Prerequisites

Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. Students must have also completed a 3900 level course

Class Number

1264

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

MacLean B1-04

Description

Students who enroll in Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition will participate in the fall exhibition at SAIC Galleries and will be ineligible to participate in the spring exhibition. Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. This interdisciplinary capstone class is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their practice and to help contextualize their work in preparation for their Senior Exhibition. An assessment of previous work will be the starting point for ongoing critical inquiry into your creative professional practice, and how you might position and locate your own work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary. Class visits by local artists will provide the opportunity to have a conversation about their lived experience sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a body of work or project for the Senior Exhibition, building a strong portfolio, and planning for post-SAIC life.

Prerequisites

Students enrolling in this course must have senior status--90 credits or more completed--when the Fall semester begins. Students must have also completed a 3900 level course

Class Number

1272

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

MacLean B1-04

Contact Us

For all questions about the undergraduate Academic Spine curriculum, please email saic-academicspine@saic.edu.