Middle School Programs: Courses

Students will explore a variety of drawing techniques and approaches to build their technical, spatial, and creative abilities. This course is designed for beginning students as well as those who want to continue developing their skills and confidence in drawing. Working with a wide range of materials, students will explore subjects and themes using pencil, charcoal, pastel, ink, and mixed media on paper and other surfaces. Students will visit the Art Institute of Chicago museum to observe and sketch from a wide variety of paintings, sculptures and objects that will be used later as inspiration for work done in the studio. This course can be repeated for continued skill and idea building in drawing. For more detailed course information contact us at CS@SAIC.edu.

Working with traditional and non-traditional materials, fabrics, and second hand garments, students explore the possibilities and challenges of turning their designs into new garments. Young designers gain an understanding of sewing techniques and contemporary approaches to fashion design. No experience is necessary, however, topics change each semester so students may enroll in this course multiple times.

Working with traditional and non-traditional materials, fabrics, and second hand garments, students explore the possibilities and challenges of turning their designs into new garments. Young designers gain an understanding of sewing techniques and contemporary approaches to fashion design. No experience is necessary, however, topics change each semester so students may enroll in this course multiple times.

This course is designed for students who wish to use both digital and traditional media to make moving images. Students will learn animation principles while discovering many different animation techniques including stop-motion animation, frame-by-frame animation, digitally-modified video, and 3-D and 2-D computer-aided animation. Students will work with digital tools including laptops, still cameras, video cameras, sound recorders, and drawing tablets. This course can be repeated for continued skill building in animation and digital art.

Students will explore the fundamental principles of graphic design working with both traditional and digital media. Projects will focus on page layout, advertising, typography, package and product design, printing technologies, and website design. SAIC's advanced technology resources, including laser cutters and 3d printers, are used throughout the course as tools to realize students? designs. This course also serves as an introduction to the Adobe Creative Suite software package. Students will learn firsthand from contemporary graphic design while visiting the design collections in the Art Institute of Chicago museum and observing examples of graphic design in the urban environment.

In this course, young illustrators will bring a world from their imagination to life through an exploration of illustration techniques. Characters, animals, objects, vehicles, and environments will be imagined and stylized using traditional and digital media including graphic markers and illustration pens, watercolor and ink, sculpting materials, digital drawing tablets, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, and Corel Painter.

Students will create three-dimensional (3-D) artworks using both traditional and contemporary materials and learn sculptural concepts using 3-D computer modeling software. Sculptures will be produced at various sizes, from miniature to large group collaborations. Students will explore painted and textured surfaces, and the use of recycled materials. Field trips to the Art Institute of Chicago musuem will offer students the opportunity to observe and discuss traditional and contemporary sculptures and 3-D objects. For more detailed course information contact us at CS@SAIC.edu.

Students will explore a variety of drawing techniques and approaches to build their technical, spatial, and creative abilities. This course is designed for beginning students as well as those who want to continue developing their skills and confidence in drawing. Working with a wide range of materials, students will explore subjects and themes using pencil, charcoal, pastel, ink, and mixed media on paper and other surfaces. Students will visit the Art Institute of Chicago museum to observe and sketch from a wide variety of paintings, sculptures and objects that will be used later as inspiration for work done in the studio. This course can be repeated for continued skill and idea building in drawing. For more detailed course information contact us at CS@SAIC.edu.

Working with traditional and non-traditional materials, fabrics, and second hand garments, students explore the possibilities and challenges of turning their designs into new garments. Young designers gain an understanding of sewing techniques and contemporary approaches to fashion design. No experience is necessary, however, topics change each semester so students may enroll in this course multiple times.

This course is designed for students who wish to use both digital and traditional media to make moving images/their artwork come to life. Students will learn animation principles while discovering many different animation techniques including stop-motion animation, frame-by-frame animation, digitally-modified video, and 3-D and 2-D computer-aided animation. In the course of the class, students will work with many digital tools including laptops, still cameras, video cameras, sound recorders, and drawing tablets. For more information contact cs@saic.edu.

Students will explore the fundamental principals of graphic design working with both traditional and digital media. Projects will focus on page layout, typography, package and product design and printing technologies. SAIC's advanced technology resources, including laser cutters and 3d printers, are used throughout the course as tools to realize students' designs. This course also serves as an introduction to the Adobe Creative Suite software package. Students will learn firsthand from contemporary graphic design while visiting the design collections in the Art institute of Chicago museum and observing examples of graphic design in the urban environment. This course can be repeated for continued skill building in design.

Students will explore a variety of painting techniques and approaches to build their technical, conceptual and imaginative abilities. This course is designed for beginning students as well as those who want to continue developing their skills and confidence in painting. Working with a wide range of traditional and contemporary materials, students will explore various subjects and themes using watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and mixed-media on paper, canvas, acetate, fabric, handmade objects, and other surfaces. Student will visit the Art Institute of Chicago museum to observe and sketch from a broad range of paintings and sculptures that will inspire their work in the studio. This course can be repeated for continued skill and idea building in painting. For more detailed course information contact us at CS@SAIC.edu.