Writing Center

Overview

Writing Center tutors are available in person and online to help students achieve their writing goals at any stage of their writing process. All currently enrolled degree-seeking students are welcome, and they can work on essays, artist statements, application materials, presentation texts, theses, proposals, creative writing, or social media posts. Our tutors are kind, encouraging, and interested!

Though drop-ins are welcome, the best way to guarantee an appointment is to schedule one in Navigate. Once you create an appointment, you will be emailed instructions with directions for working with your tutor online or in person.

If you have any questions, or need help making an appointment, stop by the Writing Center on the 10th floor of Lakeview, call us at 312-499-4138, or email wcenter@saic.edu. A front desk assistant will be happy to assist you during our open hours.

Make an Appointment

Making Appointments
You are able to make one appointment per day and no more than two appointments per week.

Cancelling Appointments in Advance
If you can't make your appointment, please cancel your appointment as soon as possible. Do so by logging into Navigate, selecting your appointment, and then deleting it.

No-Shows
A "no-show" is when you do not cancel your appointment in advance and miss it. If you miss two appointments in any given term, you will be blocked from making additional appointments for the rest of that term.

Last-Minute Cancellations
A last-minute cancellation is when you cancel your appointment within twelve hours of your appointment. It will be counted as half of a no-show. Two last-minute cancellations count as one no-show.

Late Arrivals
If you are ten or more minutes late for your appointment, it will be offered to another student and counted as a no-show.
The Writing Center is now using Navigate to schedule appointments with tutors.
Visit saic.navigate.eab.com.
Click "Login with your school account."
Enter the credentials you use to access your SAIC Gmail account.
Click "Schedule an Appointment."
Select "Writing Center" as the department.
Select "Online Appointment" as the appointment type.
Pick a date to see time slots in a 30-day range from that date.
Click "Find Available Time."
Use the arrows to switch between days and look for a time that works for you.
Click a time slot to schedule an appointment!
For more help with scheduling an appointment through Navigate, please watch the appointment scheduling tutorial.
For more information about Navigate and additional tutorials, please visit SAIC's Navigate webpage.

The Writing Center serves all currently enrolled degree-seeking students.

All Writing Center Tutors are equipped to work with students on many different forms of writing, and everyone can help you with your writing goals! Take a look at the bios of our Writing Center Tutors & Staff, and if you would like to schedule an appointment with a specific tutor, email wcenter@saic.edu.

Writing Tutorials

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) offers free, fifty-minute writing tutorials through the Writing Center. Tutors are available to assist all currently enrolled students with any stage of the writing process.

Students may work with tutors on the following:

Interpreting writing prompts, essay questions, & application leads
Brainstorming & getting started
Creating artist statements
Making claims & arguments
Developing ideas
Strengthening organization
Improving writing style
Clarifying language
Addressing Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), American Psychological Association (APA) style, & Modern Language Association (MLA) style questions
Citing references
Correcting basic grammar, spelling, & punctuation

Mission Statement

At the Writing Center, our work is individualized, while our scope is global. Everyone is welcome.

We use close observation, careful listening, and honest response while we encourage impassioned engagement, deliberate language, and thoughtful action. Students' ideas hold sway.

We embrace works in progress and what they demand from us: that we must allow false starts, address our biases, research facts, bring evidence to light, and hear alternate arguments before we make claims. Messiness is essential.

We encourage striving beyond safe conclusions, and we accept that discomfort is necessary to reach meaningful understanding. Openness is key.

We believe that relationships—between individuals listening to and asking hard questions of each other—form the basis of personal transformations and meaningful social change. Learning happens together.

Staff

Charlie Burke Dykstal

Tutor

I'm a first-year student in the MA Modern and Contemporary Art History program. I'm from Minnesota and have lived all around the Midwest, working in museums and practicing video production and editing. I'm primarily interested in how art can discuss and address the climate crisis, habitat destruction, and humanity's ever more concerning relationship with the planet. I love to play music, ride my bike, meditate, and talk about art; so let's do that!

Specialties: Art history/visual analysis, grammar, and syntax

Tikkun Bambara

Tutor

Tikkun is a MFA student in Writing. His research focuses on Caribbean Surrealism and Caribbean Romanticism; 20th and 21st century Caribbean and African American feminist engagements with what surrealist poet Suzanne Cesaire called the domain of "the marvelous" as a fertile theory, worldview, and method in black studies and black diasporic literatures. He is working toward completing his first manuscript titled Marvel Upon Marvel Upon Marvel: Black Study & Feminist Engagements with Caribbean Surrealism.

He has served as the director and founder of a local art cooperative in South Minneapolis for Black Artists. He has also served as an educator of Critical Ethnic Studies in Minnesota. Bambara has received the Verve Grant, the Beyond the Pure fellowship, The Emerging Writers Grant, and The Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship for his work. His essays are available at MN Artists through the Walker Art Center.

Specialties: Caribbean Feminism, Caribbean Surrealism, Black Studies, African American Literature

Pronouns: He/him/his

Bela Koschalk

FDA

Bela Koschalk is a third-year BFA student in the Writing Department. Their poetry considers intersections of disability, Trans* identity, and the archive. Bela's work dares to ask such questions as, "What if the spider bite was lesbianism all along?" And, "Is archival work simply an unsanctioned romance with Sisyphus?" They reside in Rogers Park in the Psychomantium with Norman, the cat driven mad by the song of the bone flute.

Pronouns: They/them/theirs

Sara Rani Reddy

Tutor

Hello! My name is Sara Rani (I go by my first and middle names), and I’m a first-year student in the MFA Writing Program. I enjoy writing narratives in fiction and poetry. Before SAIC, I studied chemistry and French in undergrad, taught English on a Fulbright grant in Luxembourg, and earned my Master’s in French from Columbia University in New York. I enjoy watching films—if you have any recommendations, let me know!—and listening to movie scores like they’re a soundtrack to my own life. I’m excited to help you make your ideas and writing shine!

Specialties: Grammar, citations, visual and literary analysis, creative writing, research papers, resumes, application essays

Pronouns: She/her

SunAh Shim

FDA

I am a first-year art therapy and counseling graduate student, originally from South Korea. I have been cross-trained in Fine Arts and Performing Arts, and I have worked as an educator and a language interpreter. I am passionate about multicultural and international student wellness and advocacy; it matters to me that you feel safe and welcomed here at the Writing Center!

Pronouns: She/they

Héloïse Paillard

FDA

Héloïse Paillard is a writer and curator from Paris. She is a graduate of Central Saint Martins, London, where she earned a BA in Culture, Criticism, and Curation. She is now pursuing a dual degree in Art History and Arts Administration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. With a background in the arts sector, she has experience working in museums, galleries, and auction houses across Europe. Héloïse has developed skills in curating, organizing exhibitions, and managing art publications, as well as contributing to high-profile events. Héloïse's work often intersects with themes of social justice, particularly in gender studies and Latin American art, and she is also drawn to the study of epistemology, which informs her critical approach to art. Fluent in French and English, with proficiency in Spanish, Héloïse combines her academic background with hands-on experience to bring a thoughtful, interdisciplinary approach to the art world. She is eager to continue expanding her expertise in both practical and theoretical aspects of arts administration.

Pronouns: She/her

Olive Maurstad

Tutor

I'm a first-year student in the MFA Writing program. I mostly write short fiction, often focusing on the speculative, the horrific, or the bizarre. You will often find me in the Writing Center, cursing to myself about how the NYT's "Connections" word puzzle is rigged and unfair.

Specialties: Fiction, essays, grammar

Pronouns: She/her

Gouri Bhuyan

Tutor

I’m a first year Performance (Studio) MFA student working primarily with themes of identity, language, accessibility and memories. Until a few months ago, I was a practicing industrial psychologist, theater maker and script/copy writer. I am forever curious, looking to learn new things and acquire new skills. I love watching films/TV shows, and am mildly obsessed with the genres of true crime and investigative journalism.

Specialties: Critical analysis, literary analysis, personal essays

Pronouns: She/her

Rebekah Villacorta

Tutor

Hello! My name is Rebekah. I am a first year MA Visual and Critical Studies graduate student. My practice revolves around speculation. I work in video, performance, sound, and writing; I engage with glacial concerns, panic, anger, and convergence. I enjoy writing letters, collecting stationary, spending time with my two cats (all cats!), searching for vintage designer shoes, and watching music videos. =^.^=

Specialties: Writing, writerings, and all things in between. I specialize in making your writing sound like you––whether it be research, artist statements, cover letters, or sketch comedy scripts.

Pronouns: they/she

Kae Johnston

Tutor

Kae Johnston is a queer, nonbinary MFA student in Writing. Their work primarily revolves around the queer experience and weaves in elements of magical realism, history, and all things weird and strange. They love writing, performance, and art in every form, and enjoy editing and reading as well. Along with their writing practice, they also have a visual art and dance practice. Through their work, Kae explores the trauma of being forgotten and left to the wayside--like many queer, nonbinary, and/or neurodivergent folks have experienced throughout their lives and throughout time.

Kae’s favorite things to do are help fellow creatives find their stride within their work and assist them in working through problems they are facing in their projects.

Specialties: Research essays, history, creative writing (fiction, creative nonfiction, & screenwriting), close reading, LGBTQIA+ studies, women's studies, disability studies, resumes, bios...and anything weird and strange!

Pronouns: they/them

Shirley Zhong

Tutor

Oh hi! I'm Shirley, a first year grad in Writing. I come from a background in media/film and gender studies, which has shaped my interdisciplinary approach to writing. My work engages in storytelling from the scope and scale of the relational. I work mainly through film and writing and am interested in playing with form between the mediums. Disability justice and disabled embodiment grounds the consciousness of my work and provides the departure points to the intersections I explore. When I’m not occupied by page or frame, I enjoy cooking for loved ones. I'm excited to learn about your interests and look forward to working together!

Specialties: Artist statements, research papers, and creative writing!

Pronouns: she/they