Academic Spine

Professional Practice Experience

Junior Professional Practice Experience

Background

The Professional Practice Experience (PROFPRAC 3900 or DEPARTMENT 3900) provides third-year students with a wide variety of professional practice activities so that they will be prepared for life after SAIC in a wide variety of professional contexts. The course emphasizes a hands-on, real-world curriculum. Students will engage in a semester-long, faculty-defined creative project (such as applying for an on-campus exhibition, submitting a proposal for an off-campus exhibition, hosting a community event, etc.), as well as an online project (such as an online portfolio, an artist website, or a class website organized around a particular event or theme). Additional course activities may include preparing a CV, networking with alumni and other key figures in their fields of interest, or giving an artist talk or scholarly presentation.

The Professional Practice Experience is usually a three-credit course, and as determined by each department, the course will function as either a seminar or a studio. Depending on course organization, each section will meet for either six hours weekly or for three hours weekly. The sections that meet for three hours weekly include the expectation that students are completing six hours of work outside class, which might include portfolio development, project development, proposal writing, networking in fields of artistic or scholarly interest. Some Professional Practice courses integrate studio projects while others focus exclusively on the stated professional practice learning goals. Courses listed as PROFPRAC 3900 are intended to be interdisciplinary and open to all third-year students who have completed Sophomore Seminar or Research Studio for Transfer Students. Discipline-specific courses with departmental prerequisites are listed with the departmental heading, DEPARTMENT 3900.

The Professional Practice Experience is the second 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). Professional Practice Experience courses are offered in both the Fall and Spring semesters, to give students flexibility in incorporating this required course into their schedule. PROFPRAC 3900 should always be taken when they have between 60-90 credits completed (roughly third or Junior year for a full-time student). This course is a prerequisite for all Senior Capstone courses, to ensure the Spine courses are completed in sequential order.

Course Description

In the Professional Practice Experience (PROFPRAC 3900 or DEPARTMENT 3900) you will engage in a wide variety of professional practice activities to help prepare you for life after SAIC. Course activities may include applying for an on-campus exhibition, submitting a proposal for an off-campus exhibition, hosting a community event, creating a website, preparing a CV, networking events with alumni, or writing a project statement. The course emphasizes hands-on, real-world professional activities and opportunities for emerging artists, designers, and scholars. You should plan to take Professional Practice Experience during your third year at SAIC.

Each section of Professional Practice is 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. Of course, at SAIC, instructors always teach to their strengths and interests, thus readings and writing assignments in a particular section may reflect a faculty member’s discipline or departmental affiliation. Many faculty title their Professional Practice Experience courses descriptively and creatively and provide a detailed course description to signal the particular course focus to potential students.

Students wishing 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 Professional Practice Experience 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 Professional Practice Experience course, students will be able to:

  1. Implement a well-planned creative project, applying professional skills relevant to their artistic, creative, and/or scholarly practice (Examples of evidence: Project proposal, including a budget; CV; grant application; exhibition proposal).
  2. Present a professional body of work in an online context, demonstrating a critical awareness of audience and selection of work (Examples of evidence: Website, online portfolio, blog, etc.).
  3. Create connections and linkages with relevant practitioners, organizations, and institutions in students’ field(s) of interest, with an attention to identifying key figures as well as situating their own work within these fields (Examples of evidence: alumni/artist interview; short summary of experience attending networking events such as a gallery opening, a panel/symposium, visiting an alum at a job site, etc.).
  4. Demonstrate the ability to think, speak, and write clearly and effectively with regard to the creative and/or scholarly practice. (Examples of evidence: Artist talk, blog, project statement, scholarly presentation, PechaKucha, etc.)
Title Catalog Instructor Schedule

Description

This three hour seminar is a professional practice class which examines what it means to have a productive, critical practice. Students not only refine their own identity as generative artist-scholar-citizen but also learn to represent that practice professionally with CVs, portfolios, project proposals, artist statements, and scholarly abstracts. Students also work collaboratively on exhibition projects to experience how different creative roles such as artists, curators, writers, and venue directors interact in the art world.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1849

Credits

3

Department

Visual and Critical Studies

Location

280 Building Rm 120

Description

This course is a a workshop introducing studio art students to various kinds of writing they can do to prepare them for professional opportunities. We will focus on connecting students to their own projects through writing and then we will discuss how that writing can be used to serve more practical ends. Instead of starting with practical requirements such as artist statments and grant applications, we will first work to build students? personal vocabularies and ways of talking about their practices. Emphasis will be on experimentation and building comfort with language. Readings will be a combination of various forms artists? writings (diaries, interviews, sketchbooks, etc) and various formats (artist statments, grant applications, professional situations) where artists are expected to present their work in language. We will use Social Medium: Artists Writing 2000-2015 as a sourcebook for examples of writing by contemporary artists and students will also be asked to collect thier own sources of inspiration from fields appropriate to their work. Coursework focuses on weekly prompts, which will be workshopped and revised. Final projects will relate to students? own goals for presenting their studio work, including websites, grant applications, and artist statements.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1871

Credits

3

Department

Visual and Critical Studies

Area of Study

Books and Publishing, Digital Communication, Social Media and the Web

Location

MacLean 617

Description

The ability to present one?s work clearly and effectively is a critical skill for designers. In this course each student will focus on advancing the design (layout, graphics, narratives, flow) of their portfolio so that it best conveys their individual design skills, experience and interests. Students will produce materials appropriate for delivery of their work across multiple formats (print, digital, web, etc.), will learn how to edit/arrange their materials to suit the specific context of application, and will create consistent design elements that can be shared across the full range of professional materials from portfolio, to website, to business cards and other promotional materials. Course lectures, exercises, and assignments are enhanced by presentations by professionals. Readings will vary but typically include graphic design and layout approaches by scholars including Ellen Lupton and Kevin Henry. Skype presentations by art and design professionals have included Jill Singer of Sight Unseen, Nick Ozemba of In Common With, and Jean Lee and Dylan Davis of Ladies & Gentleman Studio. The course work will include the development of both print and digital portfolio materials including a resume, sample cover letter, business card, digital portfolio and website.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1853

Credits

3

Department

Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects

Area of Study

Digital Communication, Graphic Design

Location

Sullivan Center 1255

Description

This course frankly addresses a critical and underserved niche in professional development?the necessity for young women of color to be able to self-direct their goals, and fully achieve those goals, regardless of environment. Subverting marginalization while growing a career and visioning oneself as a leader, without silencing yourself or burning out, remains a challenging reality for so many women of color. This is an experience many encounter early on, but which can be reframed so that the education and career processes do not point toward assimilation, or invisibility, or the anxiety of always being on guard. These concerns about combatting marginalization, which are shared among Latinx, Black American, Asian American, and international students at SAIC, have been brought privately to trusted faculty here and at art schools nationwide. In this class, we will work together to develop strategies for conquering these issues. Course work will include readings from authors such as the following: Jhumpa Lahiri, bell hooks, Ifeona Fulani, Lisa Jones, Hettie Jones, Ana Castillo, Nicola Yoon, Suheir Hammad, Staceyann Chin, Erika L. Sanchez, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zadie Smith, ZZ Packer, Melba Pattillo Beals, Yuri Kochiyama, Deepa Mehta, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Barry Jenkins, Jon Chu, Caryl Phillips. Each student will produce a memoir as a key element of this class, responding to the readings and analyzing their own experiences as well as senior colleagues,? continuing to develop and trust their voice. In addition to the memoir, each student will produce and develop an individual arts leadership project, or deepening of a specific skill set; and will work with classmates on a publication or resource that documents the group?s conversations with invited guests.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1851

Credits

3

Department

Arts Administration and Policy

Area of Study

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

Location

MacLean 112

Description

This seminar introduces and develops professional practices for students pursuing a freelance career in comics, illustration, animation, or the like. By creating promotional material, portfolios, contracts, and invoices, students learn how to market themselves as freelance artists. In tandem with learning the ins and outs of industry standards, they have access to insight and advice from a variety of guest speakers whose careers and professional paths have paved the way for future creators. Readings will vary but typically include 'The Freelancer's Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Have the Career of Your Dreams- On Your Terms' by Sara Horowitz, 'The Graphic Artist Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Handbook,' and 'Burn Your Portfolio' by Michael Janda. Students will create, revise, workshop, and submit a variety of professional documents that culminate in a compendium over the course of the semester. These are all documents that will prove to be necessary for a freelancing career. There will be weekly responses to readings, and rotating guest speakers to provide in-sight on their professional journeys.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1850

Credits

3

Department

Arts Administration and Policy

Area of Study

Books and Publishing, Comics and Graphic Novels

Location

MacLean 111

Description

Runway Meets Runway is an excursion into the intersection of fashion and object design via the accessories and technologies that we wear, carry on and carry with. Working equally in the Fashion Department and AIADO, the students use investigation, iteration and innovation to design and fabricate a collection of accessory designs using analog and digital tools from worlds of both fashion and of product design. This Junior Seminar course includes visits to studios of professional designers to supplement individual developments of objects, lines and looks. Students will develop a web presence appropriate to their emerging practice. Sample Class Activities: Built around the idea that culture is something we carry, carry on, carry with, and carry out, the students will conceive a 'galactic proposal', design and produce the objects, then integrate them into a social media campaign that introduces them as young independent designers to the outside world. Emphasis is placed on developing a professional mindset and mission to all aspects of their work. Students are introduced to this though guest professionals in design, fashion, materials experts, and social media gurus. The class is built around making a signature collection through studio work. The class will also explore- Strategies for developing a collection, Basics of a signature brand Understanding market categories, Positioning and differentiation through presentation, Material/ technique demonstrations (both analog and digital), Vendor field trips, Roles of Intellectual Property, Transforming a personal social media identity into a professional presence, Branding objects, How to meet impossible deadlines, Studio photography on a shoestring budget -through demos, field trips, invited guests, intense studio nights, and the knowledge and expertise of faculty with deep experience developing individual design practices.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1868

Credits

3

Department

Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects

Area of Study

Product Design

Location

Sullivan Center 1406A

Description

In this class you will engage in a wide variety of professional practice activities to help prepare you for life after SAIC. In this course, each student will focus on advancing the design (layout, graphics, narratives, flow) of their portfolio so that it best conveys their individual design skills, experience and interests. Students will produce materials appropriate for delivery of their work across multiple formats (print, digital, web, etc), will learn how to edit/ arrange their materials to suit the specific context of application, and will create consistent design elements that can be shared across the full range of professional materials from portfolio, website, business cards, and other promotional materials. The course emphasizes hands-on, real- world professional activities and opportunities for emerging designers. More information about Professional Practice and the Academic Spine curriculum can be found on the SAIC website: http://www.saic.edu/academics/departments/academicspine/

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1867

Credits

3

Department

Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects

Location

Sullivan Center 1406B

Description

This course teaches students how to use language creatively and practically in the development of animated media. As well as the role of art direction in the development of animation works. Students will develop skills in writing for the animated short, in relation to dialogue and visual description, treatments, and full scripts. The class will also cover in-depth art direction and pre-production. The goal of this class is to make students literate in the use of language and visuals in the creation of their work, as well as the utilization of these skills in professional animation studios. The class will also cover skills like pitching stories, writing project proposals and creating look books, decks etc.. Books will include; Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games by Christy Marx; Art Direction for Film and Video by Robert Olson Students will complete a series of assignments, based on their own ideas, and adapting existing texts, as well as each other’s writing into visuals. The class will culminate in a final project proposal that will contain a script, synopsis, and visual art direction for an animated work.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1869

Credits

3

Department

Film, Video, New Media, and Animation

Area of Study

Animation, Comics and Graphic Novels, Illustration

Location

MacLean 717

Description

This six-hour seminar is a professional practice class for life after graduation, focusing on how each student can build a sustainable practice based on their own strengths and working style. Students create a website, CVs, write grant proposals, artist statements, and statements of purpose, learning the different content and uses of each. Readings on contemporary artists and 'best practices' for editing, exhibition, and installation of artwork will support class work. This course embraces the understanding that developing a sustainable practice outside of school includes building creative community, developing an independent research practice and other activities related to each individual’s work. As such, the highlight of this course will be bi-weekly visits and workshops from a diverse range of working artists, curators, residency staff and others to speak about these opportunities, as well as how to build a fruitful creative life. For example, we will develop strategies for talking about your work that fit your own personal style with a Chicago curator, and present grant materials to a mock panel to get productive feedback. The Junior Seminar is one of four required classes intended to function as a 'spine,' providing guidance and structure for SAIC's open and interdisciplinary curriculum.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1857

Credits

3

Department

Photography

Area of Study

Digital Imaging

Location

280 Building Rm 214

Description

In this course, students will explore and create their own definitions of success, starting with their preconceived notions of what it means to be a successful artist. We will break down outdated expectations and myths and will rebuild unique, personal, and fulfilling plans for a creative life. Through writing, mentoring, and research students will explore career paths and what it means to live the flexible and nuanced life of an artist. We will investigate a number of topics and tools that support a career in the arts, including: mind-mapping, goal-setting, creating professional materials (CV, statement, bio), applying to professional opportunities such as grants and residencies, studio visits, and working with galleries. Course material will include artists’ personal accounts of leading a creative life and tools they use to make projects more rich. This course involves numerous written assignments; students must be prepared to write and edit their work. Students will choose from a vast menu of short projects in order to tailor their experience in the class to their career goals. Final assignments will include 1) a clear personal vision of success; 2) steps for achieving short and long-term goals, and 3) refined professional materials suitable for application.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1860

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

MacLean 501

Description

What does it mean to be a successful artist? What does it take to function as an artist in today?s highly competitive art world? How can we envision a practice that is sustainable and exciting? In this highly diverse and interdisciplinary art world everything is possible, and everyday you have to hustle. In this three-hour seminar students will work on their artist statements, CVs, websites, and present artist talks. The course will focus on a series of visits to meet professional artists who find creative ways to sustain their practices. We will also visit various sites around Chicago including established galleries, apartment galleries, artist studios, museums, and meet the professionals who make these spaces function with their hustle.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1872

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

MacLean 112

Description

In this course, students will explore and create their own definitions of success, starting with their preconceived notions of what it means to be a successful artist. We will break down outdated expectations and myths and will rebuild unique, personal, and fulfilling plans for a creative life. Through writing, mentoring, and research students will explore career paths and what it means to live the flexible and nuanced life of an artist. We will investigate a number of topics and tools that support a career in the arts, including: mind-mapping, goal-setting, creating professional materials (CV, statement, bio), applying to professional opportunities such as grants and residencies, studio visits, and working with galleries. Course material will include artists’ personal accounts of leading a creative life and tools they use to make projects more rich. This course involves numerous written assignments; students must be prepared to write and edit their work. Students will choose from a vast menu of short projects in order to tailor their experience in the class to their career goals. Final assignments will include 1) a clear personal vision of success; 2) steps for achieving short and long-term goals, and 3) refined professional materials suitable for application.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1866

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

280 Building Rm 120

Description

In this course, students will explore and create their own definitions of success, starting with their preconceived notions of what it means to be a successful artist. We will break down outdated expectations and myths and will rebuild unique, personal, and fulfilling plans for a creative life. Through writing, mentoring, and research students will explore career paths and what it means to live the flexible and nuanced life of an artist. We will investigate a number of topics and tools that support a career in the arts, including: mind-mapping, goal-setting, creating professional materials (CV, statement, bio), applying to professional opportunities such as grants and residencies, studio visits, and working with galleries. Course material will include artists’ personal accounts of leading a creative life and tools they use to make projects more rich. This course involves numerous written assignments; students must be prepared to write and edit their work. Students will choose from a vast menu of short projects in order to tailor their experience in the class to their career goals. Final assignments will include 1) a clear personal vision of success; 2) steps for achieving short and long-term goals, and 3) refined professional materials suitable for application.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1870

Credits

3

Department

Undergraduate Studies

Location

Lakeview - 1428

Description

Professional Practice: Web Art is a course that combines creative and practical knowledge related to web site development. Launched in 1989 as a remote file sharing system for scientists, the World Wide Web is nearly thirty years old. Today, the web functions as an exhibition space, a communications hub as well as a nexus for creative expression. Students in the Web Art class will learn the Hypertext Mark-Up Language (HTML), which is the basis of WWW authoring. Potential overall format and conceptual frameworks for developing a media-rich web site will be investigated, and ways of subverting the traditional web page format in order to create unique approaches to the dynamics of the web will be explored. Course activities include technical tutorials, preparation of a CV, writing of a project statement, and the creation of a web site.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

2190

Credits

3

Department

Art & Technology / Sound Practices

Area of Study

Social Media and the Web

Location

MacLean 401

Description

In this Professional Practice class, students will engage in a wide variety of practical activities to help prepare for life after SAIC. These include the development of essential professional materials (statement, CV, bio, work documentation), creating or refining a website, delivering an artist talk, and writing a grant or project proposal. Beyond these tangible pursuits, we will discuss the pragmatic realities of life as a practicing artist, explore possible professions and transferable skills, and consider how self-evaluation, prioritization, and strategic planning can help us achieve the often difficult balance between artistic production and professional development activities (while hopefully still having time for a fulfilling personal life). Readings will include excerpts from Vicki Krohn Amorose’s Art-Write, Jackie Battenfield’s The Artist's Guide, Heather Darcy Bhandari & Jonathan Melber’s Art/Work, Peter Cobb’s The Profitable Artist, Gigi Rosenberg’s The Artist's Guide to Grant Writing, Sharon Louden’s The Artist as Culture Producer, DonThompson’s The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, and Peter Nesbett, Sarah Andress, & Shelly Bancroft’s Letters to a Young Artist.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1855

Credits

3

Department

Ceramics

Location

280 Building Rm 120

Description

In ?I Made a Thing?,? a Professional Practice Experience course offering, you will engage in a wide variety of activities designed to help prepare you for life after SAIC. Course activities may include creating a website, preparing a CV, attending networking events with alumni, and writing of a project statement. The course emphasizes hands-on, real-world professional activities and opportunities for emerging studio artists. This course will be broken into six units, each of which addresses a particular concern about what to do with studio work once it has been made. Each unit will typically contain a reading assignment, a writing assignment, and a project assignment. This course would be best suited for artists who are considering a career centered around an individually driven studio practice. Units include: I Made a Thing and I think I want to make more: how to develop a practical, long-term studio practice. I Made a Thing and I think it failed: how to embrace inevitable challenges and let your work be your teacher. I Made a Thing and I think I want people to look at it: how to cultivate a supportive creative community both physically and virtually. I Made a Thing and I think I want to use it to apply to/for stuff: how to get your work ?out there.? I Made a Thing and I think I want people to talk about it: how to engage your work with dialogue and criticism. I Made a Thing and I think I want someone to buy it: how to create your own art market.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1856

Credits

3

Department

Painting and Drawing

Location

280 Building Rm 120

Description

This professional practice class focuses on the history and current practice of artist-run art spaces in Chicago. Students will research historical artist-driven culture and meet with current artists/curators. Readings and lectures will look at different models of exhibiting artwork, working within economic constraints, and terrain of the art market. Students will build professional skills such as writing an artist statement, curriculum vitae, artist talks, documenting work, and applying to opportunities like residencies or grants. The class will curate and produce a collaborative exhibition as a culminating event.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1865

Credits

3

Department

Painting and Drawing

Location

280 Building Rm 120

Description

How can artists use professional tools to connect with the art world while engaging with communities, institutions and organizations? In what ways can artists stimulate the public's imagination? Speculative proposals can communicate radical and provocative possibilities to inspire change. In this class students will explore the fantastic, utopic and dystopic that can be made possible within the limits of a hypothetical proposal. During the semester, students will use models, plans, diagrams and sculptural forms to create speculative proposals as standalone 'finished' pieces that imagine realities beyond current financial, physical, legal or practical constraints. The semester will culminate in the presentation of student projects. The class will organize, plan and promote the dissemination of the finished proposals, focusing on unique forms of distribution, presentation and public engagement.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: 2900 course

Class Number

1858

Credits

3

Department

Sculpture

Area of Study

Community & Social Engagement

Location

280 Building Rm 032

Contact Us

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