Art and Technology Studies: Resources

The Department of Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) offers the following equipment and facilities:

• Bioart Lab facilitates artistic research utilizing the material, tools and techniques of molecular and microbiology including DNA extraction and analysis and synthetic biology.
• High-end graphics labs are used for 3D modeling, animation, and video, and are equipped with the full range of professional digital media tools
• Experimental Programming Lab supports the Macintosh, Linux, and Windows operating systems, and a variety of programming tools. The department is deeply committed to open-source software and development environments
• Kinetics Lab is fully equipped with a fabrication and machining facility, power supplies, extensive hand tools, and hundreds of electronic and mechanical components
• Electronics Lab contains eight microcontroller development stations supporting both PIC and Atmel families, circuit breadboarding and testing equipment, electronic parts inventory, and hand and power tools
• Immersive Environments Lab is an advanced facility for the creation of experimental virtual reality environments and visualizations. The lab is equipped with a “C-Wall” or "Single Wall CAVE" using stereoscopic 3D video, motion tracking systems, head mount displays, and multichannel audio
• Digital Audio Lab features keyboards, samplers, synthesizers, and monitors, as well as key support equipment
• Black Box Studio is a flexible studio/screening/project space with light control, video and sound projection, ceiling grid, etc. for testing and exhibiting installations, sculptures, and spectacles
• Individual graduate studios

Within the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, students have access to:

• The Art Institute of Chicago, an encyclopedic museum with a collection spanning 5,000 years of human expression across the globe and a new modern wing
• The Flaxman Library with more than 100,000 arts and humanities volumes and 400 magazine subscriptions
• The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, comprising more than 4,000 artists’ books, periodicals, and multiples in addition to supporting reference materials
• Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, holding an extensive collection of monographs on art, architecture, exhibition catalogs, journals, auction sales catalogs, microfilm and microfiche, pamphlet files and archival materials
• Glore Print Study Room, a collection of prints and drawings housed in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries
• The Video Data Bank, a leading resource in the US for videos by and for contemporary artists
• Gallery spaces: Betty Rymer Gallery, Sullivan Galleries, and the student-run Student Union Galleries
• Roger Brown Study Collection, an intimate collection of an astonishing range of objects including works by Chicago Imagists and other contemporary artists, self-taught artists, fold and tribal art, etc., housed in a historic house museum setting
• Gene Siskel Film Center, which presents 1,500 independent, international, and classic screenings and 100 guest artist appearances per year
• Fashion Resources Center, a collection of late 20th and 21st century designer garments and accessories representative of extreme innovation plus videos of runway presentations and vintage magazines from the 1890’s to present

In addition, the City of Chicago is home to:

• Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the nation’s largest facilities devoted to experiencing the work and ideas of living artists
• The Renaissance Society, an independent, noncollecting museum located on the University of Chicago Campus that presents opportunities to investigate the most recent developments in contemporary art
• The Newberry Library, an independent research library with an extensive, noncirculating collection of rare books, maps, music, manuscripts, and other printed material
• Chicago’s architecture, a living laboratory for the study of late 19th- and 20th-century architecture, landscapes, and interiors—the development of the Chicago school of commercial architecture, the flowering of the Prairie style house, the progression of the City Beautiful movement in urban planning
• Museum of Contemporary Photography, the only Midwestern museum dedicated solely to the medium of photography
• National Museum of Mexican Art, one of the largest collections of Mexican art in the United States, the museum houses more than 6,000 objects spanning from ancient to present-day art
• Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, recognized for its breadth and quality, this museum houses one the world’s largest collections of Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American abstract and minimalist works
• The Chicago Cultural Center, a landmark building with two stained-glass domes, free music performances, dance and theater events, films, lectures, art exhibitions and more
• The Field Museum, an educational institution that provides collection-based research for greater understanding and appreciation of the world in which we live
• Museum of Science and Industry, one of the largest science museums in the world
• Adler Planetarium, home to one of the world’s most important antique astronomical instrument collections, three full-sized theaters, and extensive space exhibitions