High School Programs: Overview

SAIC’s ECP Summer Institute is designed to have students focus in one area, allowing in depth exploration of a particular discipline. Experimentation and critical feedback from renowned faculty and peers promote discovery and refinement of skills. As a result, ECP Summer Institute students leave the program with higher confidence and innovative, portfolio-quality work.

Students may choose an area that is new to them, but all students should have experience in visual art and/or design. Students enrolled in an ECP Summer Institute course should be prepared to make an active and intensive commitment to the study of art, design, or writing. Typical ECP Summer Institute students spend most of their time producing work. In addition to all-day classes, students are expected to attend evening lectures and workshops, and complete homework assignments over the weekends. The ECP Summer Institute is first and foremost an intensive academic program for serious high school students.

ECP Summer Institute 2013 At-a-Glance

College Credit

Students must be at least 15 years of age and have completed their sophomore year of high school to enroll in the ECP Summer Institute. Upon successful completion of a course, students will receive college credit that is transferrable to other accredited institutions. SAIC’s credit/no-credit grading policy prepares students for life as a creative professional where the highest value is placed on the relationship between idea and execution.

The Faculty

ECP Summer Institute students receive college-level instruction from the SAIC faculty, who draw on their knowledge and experience as working artists. SAIC faculty teach students how to think visually; how to draw with charcoal or a digital tablet; how to sculpt in metal, pixel, or even time; how to clearly express themselves; how to understand artists, writers, and thinkers. Faculty help students acquire and refine technical and conceptual abilities, and challenge them with new ideas that will take their work in new directions.

“I make things as a way of understanding and commenting on the world, expressing my interests, my desires, and in order to communicate with others, to enter and continue ongoing conversations about issues I am invested in.” –Josh Rios, instructor

Additional Instructional Support

An SAIC undergraduate or graduate student Teaching Assistant (TA) works with each faculty member. With an average class size of 12-18 students, this allows for a maximum teacher/student ratio of 1:8.

“…my ideas and guidance from my friends and classmates as well as my teachers and TAs helped me to shape and form new ideas that were much more invigorating and reflective of my process.” –Gabriel Antonio Garza, student (2012)

Portfolio Reviews and Undergraduate Admissions

Individual portfolio review sessions are provided to all ECP Summer Institute students during the program to help them assess and evaluate the success of their work. A lunchtime portfolio preparation seminar is also scheduled in each ECP Summer Institute session. Admissions representatives are available upon request.

Evening Lectures and Workshops

SAIC is committed to interdisciplinary study and awareness that interesting and important innovations in the arts lie beyond current boundaries. With this in mind, ECP Summer Institute evening lectures and workshops are designed to challenge students with new ideas that will take their work in unexpected directions, and provide them with opportunities to explore new processes and materials that may help them realize their vision.