A student viewing a projected video of various yellow chips in a dark gallery room.

Graduate Curriculum & Courses

Graduate Curriculum Overview

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is designed to offer maximum flexibility in addressing your individual needs as a student. Following admission through a department, you will design your two-year plan of study based on optimizing the offerings and opportunities available throughout SAIC. You are encouraged to seek out curricular advising as needed from a variety of available sources including the dean, graduate dean, graduate division chair, department heads, academic advising, the graduate admissions office, and your peers.

In fall 2023, the Department of Art and Technology Studies and the Department of Sound are merging into Art and Technology / Sound Practices (AT/SP). New applicants can use this pathway to explore Art and Technology Studies work, Sound work, or both. This new synergy creates a place to explore, critique, and imagine the potentials of artistic production through focused study and interdisciplinary experimentation. Visit Sound to learn more about their ethos and courses.

Studio—MFA 6009 Graduate Projects, Seminars and/or maximum of 12 credits of 3000-level and above studios

39  

Art History

12  

  • ARTHI 5002 Graduate Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art OR ARTHI 5120 Survey of Modern and Contemporary Architecture and Design(3)
  • Art History Courses, 4000-level or above (9)

 

Electives—any course in any area at 3000 level or above

9  

Participation in four graduate critiques

 

Participation in ONE of the following as appropriate to artistic practice:* Graduate Exhibition, AIADO or Fashion Exhibition, Graduate Performance Event, Graduate Screenings

 

Total Credit Hours

60 

* Students who wish to use an alternative venue or presentation outside of these options must receive permission from the Dean of Graduate Studies. The AIADO Department encourages students in their MFA design programs to participate in the AIADO and Fashion Graduate Exhibition.

Degree Requirements and Specifications

  • Completion schedule: You have a maximum of four years to complete your MFA in Studio degree. This includes time off for leaves of absence. Students will have access to studios for four semesters only.
  • Transfer credits: You must complete a minimum of 45 credit hours in residence at SAIC. You can request up to 15 transfer credits at the time of application for admission, which are subject to approval at that time. No transfer credits are permitted after a student is admitted.
  • Art History requirement: MFA students are required to take ARTHII 5002 Graduate Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art OR ARTHI 5120 Survey of Modern and Contemporary Architecture and Design. Art History courses must be at the 4000-level and above.
  • Undergraduate studio courses: Graduate students are permitted no more than one undergraduate studio course (3000-level and above) per semester without permission of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Courses at the 1000 and 2000-level are allowed only with permission.

Full-Time Status Minimum Requirement: 12 credit hours

MFA 6009 Graduate Projects

MFA 6009 Graduate Projects advising, an ongoing individual dialogue with a wide range of full-time and part-time faculty advisors, is at the heart of the MFA program at SAIC, encouraging interdisciplinary study across the curriculum. You are required to register for one MFA 6009 Graduate Projects advisor each semester, and we highly recommend you register for two.

In the registration process, you may elect to earn 3 or 6 hours of credit with each advisor. This option is designed to allow for maximum flexibility in designing your program. You can earn as few as 3 and as many as 6 credits with each advisor each semester, thus dedicating a maximum of 12 credit hours to your studio activity. The number of credits you earn has no correlation with the length or frequency of the advising sessions or to faculty assessment of student work.

The remainder of credits required for the full-time 15 credit hour load may include graduate seminars and academic or studio electives. MFA students are urged to take graduate seminars, and an introductory seminar in their department of admission is highly recommended. In addition, the MFA student may choose from all the art history, studio, and academic offerings across the curriculum (including undergraduate offerings above 3000 level) in any given semester to customize their degree experience.

Graduate Critiques

As one of the principle means of assessment each semester, you will be required to participate in Critique Week, a week-long schedule of critiques during which classes are suspended.

Fall semester critiques are organized by department with panels representing the discipline. This provides you with an opportunity to understand the department’s expectations, have your work reviewed from a disciplinary point of view, and to reiterate the expectations for graduate study.

Spring semester critiques are interdisciplinary, with panel members and students from across SAIC disciplines. Interdisciplinary critiques allow for a broad range of responses to your work, and are intended to assess the success of your work for a more general, albeit highly informed audience. Critique panels include faculty, visiting artists, and fellow graduate students.

Graduate Exhibition or Equivalent

At the conclusion of your studies, you will present work in the SAIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition, other end-of-year events at SAIC, or the Gene Siskel Film Center—or arrange with the graduate dean or division chair for an alternative thesis of equal professional quality. Each year more than 200 graduate students exhibit work, screen videos and films, and present time-based works, writings, and performance to a collective audience of 30,000 people.

Students wishing to install work around prevalent themes, strategies or stylistic affinities can participate in a juried and curated section of the SAIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition. A faculty and staff committee conducts extensive studio visits and as a collaborative project with student participants, organizes and installs the show in designated space at the exhibition.

Undergraduate Courses

MFA students are advised to understand the expectations of their faculty when enrolled in undergraduate studio classes. Although graduate students are an asset to the group dynamic, faculty requirements for graduate students in undergraduate classes are variable. The student is responsible for understanding the faculty member's expectations about completion of assignments, attendance, and any other criteria for earning credit. To assure that graduate students are working at degree level, they are permitted no more than one undergraduate studio course (3000 level and above) per semester without permission of the dean of graduate studies. Courses at the 1000 and 2000 level are allowed only with permission.

Course Listing

Title Catalog Instructor Schedule

Description

Consider how object based movement creates both meaning and tone, and how movement functions much like non-verbal communication. We'll attempt to approach the technical matters of controlling motion from the aesthetic perspective of an animator or a dancer. The course introduces basic techniques for creating moving parts appropriate for a broad range of creative and material practices. Technical matters covered through exercises include motors, speed control, fabrication of moving parts and simple circuits for motor control. Self-determined projects will demonstrate mastery of skills and concepts.

Class Number

1104

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science

Location

MacLean B1-07

Description

This team-taught, introductory course provides a foundation for most additional coursework in the Art and Technology Studies department. Students are given a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, and hands-on experiences they will need to engage the potentials of new technologies in art making. Every other week, a lecture and discussion group exposes students to concepts of electronic media, perception, inter-media composition, emerging venues, and other issues important to artists working with technologically based media. Students will attend a morning & afternoon section each day to gain hands-on experience with a variety of forms and techniques central to technologically-based art making.

Class Number

1091

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Game Design, Art and Science

Location

MacLean 401, MacLean B1-07

Description

This team-taught, introductory course provides a foundation for most additional coursework in the Art and Technology Studies department. Students are given a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, and hands-on experiences they will need to engage the potentials of new technologies in art making. Every other week, a lecture and discussion group exposes students to concepts of electronic media, perception, inter-media composition, emerging venues, and other issues important to artists working with technologically based media. Students will attend a morning & afternoon section each day to gain hands-on experience with a variety of forms and techniques central to technologically-based art making.

Class Number

1113

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Game Design, Art and Science

Location

MacLean 401, MacLean B1-07

Description

This team-taught, introductory course provides a foundation for most additional coursework in the Art and Technology Studies department. Students are given a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, and hands-on experiences they will need to engage the potentials of new technologies in art making. Every other week, a lecture and discussion group exposes students to concepts of electronic media, perception, inter-media composition, emerging venues, and other issues important to artists working with technologically based media. Students will attend a morning & afternoon section each day to gain hands-on experience with a variety of forms and techniques central to technologically-based art making.

Class Number

1113

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Game Design, Art and Science

Location

MacLean 401, MacLean B1-07

Description

This course examines neon techniques used in both traditional and current sign making and their application in creating artworks. Contemporary technical developments are explored.

Class Number

1110

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science

Location

MacLean B1-16

Description

In this introduction to the theory, tools, and techniques of three-dimensional imaging, students study the structure of light and the ways in which it can convey information, and familiarize themselves with the basic tool of holography, the laser. Students make several different styles of holograms, some viewable in laser light, and some in white light. Techniques involving spatial juxtaposition and montage are also explored. The focus is on developing a working knowledge of the medium from the perspective of its artistic possibilities. Readings will include journal articles that touch on the history, techniques, and aesthetics of holography. Some of the artists we will consider include Sally Weber, Mary Harman, Paula Dawson, and John Kaufman. We will also look at prior student work and discuss holography as an interdisciplinary, installation-based practice in addition to holography as a medium in and of itself. Lastly, we will discuss the unique issues around and strategies for exhibiting holographic works. Over the course of the semester, students should expect to produce a body of work of laser- and/or white-light-viewable holograms over a sequence of assignments that conceptually build off one another, and work collaboratively to produce a digital hologram.

Class Number

1098

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Digital Imaging

Location

MacLean 414

Description

This class will be an exploration of the electric light as an art medium. Through the demonstration of various electric light technologies the student will learn both the traditional use of lighting and installation and also an experimental approach to lighting that will produce unexpected visual effects. Students may work in individual or group projects that will span the range of light use from architectural design to performance as well as merging with other media such as sound.

Class Number

1105

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Public Space, Site, Landscape, Art and Science

Location

MacLean B1-16

Description

Students will investigate scent as an expressive medium. They will have access to the ATS Perfume Organ and specialized lab equipment. Course content includes basic aromatic blending, hydro-distillation extraction techniques and how to impregnate scent into various media. At least TWO works of Olfactory Art are to be completed. The last one is considered the FINAL and should be an opus ready for gallery/performance/experiential application.Students should leave this class with the ability to thoughtfully engage Olfactory Work as practitioners, researchers and thinkers within personal, historical, theoretical and conceptual contexts.

Class Number

1102

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science

Location

Michigan B1-19

Description

This course explores the use of radio, light and sound as media through which an artist can create a public voice. This course takes a hands-on, do-it-yourself approach to these media, providing a basic background in electronics theory and practice, as well as in programming and use of microcontrollers. Topics covered in this course include, but are not limited to, low-power radio, locative media, hactivism and culture-jamming. Some examples of activities include the construction of AM/FM radio transmitters and receivers, laser projectors, persistence-of-vision displays and mobile audio rigs. A survey of the artistic significance of these media will be conducted throughout the course. Students are expected to research and present their findings in class, as well as to produce a personal or collaborative final project that augments their own practices.

Class Number

1094

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science

Location

MacLean 423

Description

This course embraces the concept of projection as a broad field of art practice. Starting with the magic lantern, the course investigates the history of projection related practices that shape the parameters of visual perception and communication. Deconstructing the concept of the screen, the course focuses on projection in sculptural and installation contexts. Microcontrollers and Adobe software is used in unorthodox ways to shape visual elements for digital light projection. History of visual, technical and conceptual use of light is accessed to investigate the interactions of projections with objects and space.

Class Number

2183

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Public Space, Site, Landscape

Location

MacLean 414

Description

Electronics can be a kind of language that, when an artist becomes fluent in it, opens doors to numerous aesthetic possibilities. Students will learn the basic principles of electronics along with hands-on techniques for putting the power of electrons into their work. They will be introduced to electronic components and circuits for switching, sensing, making decisions, and, to a limited degree, linking to computers. Students will encounter digital and analog answers to some of the most common art-making needs, gaining a foundation which will enable them to continue to expand their repertoire of aesthetic technological skills.

Class Number

1095

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science

Location

MacLean 423

Description

This course is offered for those students interested in developing skills in the creation and application of digital audio. Using Apple's Logic software, students interested in exploring sound or music are introduced to audio manipulation techniques that allow them to create soundtracks, to record and produce songs or dance tracks, realize abstract sound pieces or manipulate sound for installations. Techniques of sound manipulation are introduced, including audio recording and editing, looping, and sound destruction. MIDI, drum programming, the use of software synthesis and basic music and composition techniques are addressed according to the needs of individual students. The class is structured to encourage the interaction of students with a wide range of technical ability in audio from beginners to advanced artists in the early stages of a professional practice.

Class Number

1108

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Digital Communication, Art and Science

Location

MacLean 431

Description

This course is offered for those students interested in developing skills in the creation and application of digital audio. Using Apple's Logic software, students interested in exploring sound or music are introduced to audio manipulation techniques that allow them to create soundtracks, to record and produce songs or dance tracks, realize abstract sound pieces or manipulate sound for installations. Techniques of sound manipulation are introduced, including audio recording and editing, looping, and sound destruction. MIDI, drum programming, the use of software synthesis and basic music and composition techniques are addressed according to the needs of individual students. The class is structured to encourage the interaction of students with a wide range of technical ability in audio from beginners to advanced artists in the early stages of a professional practice.

Class Number

1109

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Digital Communication, Art and Science

Location

MacLean 431

Description

This studio course investigates the creative possibilities in programming, from interactivity to information visualization. Students explore interactive narratives and games, software art, simulations and emergent behaviors, and other code-based forms. Lectures and demonstrations provide a conceptual, aesthetic and technical foundation in programming as a creative practice. Techniques and concepts are presented through the open-source programming environment Processing, with an introduction to advanced topics such as C++ and OpenFrameworks.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: ARTTECH 2101 or permission of instructor.

Class Number

1093

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science, Social Media and the Web

Location

MacLean 401

Description

The relatively simple to program microprocessor technology and solid state hardware allow students to focus on issues of content and concept. Students will learn both industry standards and unique solutions of assembly, installation and presentation. Students will be asked to create work where the temporal, spacial and physical elements are intrinsically related. Artists will look at both commercial work from mid-century and current fine art with an emphasis on animation, and other implementations and mixing of technologies. A special emphasis will be given to Bruce Nauman, who most exemplifies the values of this course. Students will be required to complete assigned exercises early in the semester. There will be an assigned mid-term followed by several weeks of studio and a final critique.

Prerequisites

Pre: ARTTECH 2112

Class Number

1841

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Graphic Design, Animation

Location

MacLean B1-16

Description

This course focuses on wearables and 'soft' computing as a vehicle for subversion and artistic appropriation. We will pursue an exploratory approach to introducing electronic textiles as a material practice. Concepts are developed, designed and prototyped into working pieces by participants addressing personal expression and social dialog. Readings from Joanna Berzowska, Patrizia Calefato, and Lucy Orta emphasize theoretical discourse on the relationships of the body, technology, fashion, social interactions and environment. Soft circuits (conductive paint, fabric, etc), and hand build sensors that consider their materiality as an essential part of their aesthetic are explored in the development of expressive computational forms. Assignments include two material explorations, community blog participation through reading responses and process documentation, as well as a final project.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: ARTTECH 2101 or permission of instructor.

Class Number

1096

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science

Location

MacLean 423

Description

In this course we will focus on developing skills in the broad and dynamic field of Bioart. Students participate in classroom exercises and individual projects exploring the manipulation of living matter as artistic material. The course will cover basic protocols of molecular biology that will serve as departure points for study of more sophisticated and advanced techniques utilized by artists and scientists. Readings will draw from numerous and varied sources. Students should expect to be willing to dive into such varied materials as essays on bioethics, podcasts on controversial bioarts, peer reviewed scientific journal articles, and online notebooks from well documented student biology projects. Course work will vary but typically includes weekly reading responses, two short mid-term presentatinos, participation in class discussions and laboratory exercise, and the production of 1-2 finished pieces to be presented in a culminating course critique.

Class Number

1099

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Art and Science, Sustainable Design

Location

Michigan B1-19, MacLean B1-04

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

1842

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Social Media and the Web

Location

MacLean 401

Description

In an in-situ online studio environment, Social Media Narratives will explore the possibilities of social media platforms as authoring systems for creative work. Interactive traversals of classic and contemporary social media-based artworks; authoring practicum; critical discussion of issues in contemporary social media, such as surveillance advertising, censorship, and content ownership; envisioning new social media platforms hospitable to artists; and an online panel with guest artists will ground the course in the lineage and contemporary practice of social media-based narrative. The works of artists and writers -- such as Jennifer Egan, Teju Cole, Eduardo Kac, Joseph DeLappe, Carla Gannis, Cindy Sherman, Al Weiwei, Bernie Su, Sandra Cisneros, and Chindu Sreedharan -- will key explorations of creative practice on social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Second Life, YouTube, and Twitch. Fox Harrell's concept of phantasmal media, plus the works of scholars and media historians -- such as Beth Coleman, Judith Donath, Robert Gehl, and Henry Jenkins -- will inform investigations of social media, past, present and future. Students will create short, midterm, and final projects in the media of their choice -- including words, images, video, animation, performance, conceptual, information-based, and interactive.

Class Number

1103

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Area of Study

Social Media and the Web

Location

Online

Description

Teaches the design, construction and programming of robotic projects, both artworks and designed objects, such as interactive furniture, objects, and habitable spaces. Topics to be covered include sensors, embedded micro-controllers, and motor control, lighting, etc. Student projects ranging from embedded interactive devices to autonomous spatial object-scaled, will be designed and built with a critical approach to normal market forces and human factors. Discussions investigate a range of robotic endeavors, examining connections with related fields such as interaction design, artificial intelligence, kinetic sculpture, etc., and critically examine works embodying these strategies.

Class Number

1111

Credits

3

Department

Art and Technology Studies

Location

MacLean B1-07

Take the Next Step

Visit the graduate admissions website or contact the graduate admissions office at 312.629.6100, 800.232.7242 or gradmiss@saic.edu.