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This course provides an introduction to clay as a material. Participants will be introduced to a wide variety of methods and techniques to build, decorate, and glaze ceramic. Demonstrations in Hand-building, coiling, slap-building and surface application including glaze development and application, slip decoration and firing methods, will give students a proficiency in working with clay and in the ceramic department. Introductions to the rich and complex history of ceramic through readings, lectures and museum visits, will provide students with exposures to the critical discourse of contemporary ceramic. This is primarily a beginner's course but open to all levels of students.

Readings will vary but typically include, Hands in Clay by Charlotte Speight and John Toki. Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art by Clare Lilley. Ten thousand years of pottery by Emmanuel Cooper. 20th Century Ceramics By Edmund de Waal. Live Form: Women, Ceramics, and Community by Jenni Sorkin. The course will look at artist like Magdalene Odundo, George E. Ohr, Shoji Hamada, Roberto Lugo and Nicole Cherubini as well as historic ceramic from the Art Institutes of Chicago?s collection.

Students are expected to complete 3 projects by the end of the semester, Biweekly readings will be part of the course.

This course provides an introduction to clay as a material. Participants will be introduced to a wide variety of methods and techniques to build, decorate, and glaze ceramic. Demonstrations in Hand-building, coiling, slap-building and surface application including glaze development and application, slip decoration and firing methods, will give students a proficiency in working with clay and in the ceramic department. Introductions to the rich and complex history of ceramic through readings, lectures and museum visits, will provide students with exposures to the critical discourse of contemporary ceramic. This is primarily a beginner's course but open to all levels of students.

Readings will vary but typically include, Hands in Clay by Charlotte Speight and John Toki. Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art by Clare Lilley. Ten thousand years of pottery by Emmanuel Cooper. 20th Century Ceramics By Edmund de Waal. Live Form: Women, Ceramics, and Community by Jenni Sorkin. The course will look at artist like Magdalene Odundo, George E. Ohr, Shoji Hamada, Roberto Lugo and Nicole Cherubini as well as historic ceramic from the Art Institutes of Chicago?s collection.

Students are expected to complete 3 projects by the end of the semester, Biweekly readings will be part of the course.

FYS I are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year students, with an emphasis on teaching foundational writing skills. Students will develop the intellectual skills of reading critically, and writing responsively, which forms the basis of each student's career at the School. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds, which may include critical, analytical and argumentative essays. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing. Grammatical and organizational strategies, argumentation, and skills in thesis/claim and idea development are explored. Students should expect to write 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing, short homework exercises, and workshopping of student work may be included. Individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.

This research, discussion, and critique course develops a visual and verbal vocabulary by examining relationships between form and content, word and image. Study includes symbolic association and the problem of effective communication in a highly complex culture.

This course is an introduction to art and design. Specific content varies by instructor and covers diverse ways of seeing and understanding the visual world. The course articulates connections between selected art of the past and contemporary practices. Students will gain first-hand knowledge from visits to and exercises in the Art Institute of Chicago and other collections.
Ultimately, the course teaches skills that enable students to understand their own practices better, orient themselves in relation to theories of art and design, and navigate our present moment where visual literacy is increasingly crucial.

This course introduces students to key aspects of the history and theory of art and design. Students will become familiar with selected art of the past and how it has been connected to contemporary practices.

Digital visualization is essential to all contemporary creative communication. This class will familiarize students with the syntax, tools and methods of vector-based drawing and reinforce analogies to traditional methods of image-making covered in the First Year Program.

Students will begin with an introduction to the computer as a graphic design tool: the relationship of vector to raster graphics and the peripherals. The focus on building proficiency with industry-standard Adobe Illustrator software will be reinforced via tutorials and short design exercises which target specific topics and techniques covered during lectures.

Students apply technical competencies to formal design problems during the second half of this course and in Beginning Graphic Design class.

This course builds on the lessons of ARTHI 1001 by discussing specific issues in modern and contemporary art and design. It focuses on examining objects and concepts, addressing theoretical and critical issues. It also explores the historical, intellectual, and socioeconomic changes reflected in the works of artists and designers, highlighting their relevance to contemporary practices. Museum visits and group exercises supervised by the instructor and the teaching assistants will contribute to the important hands-on experience of works of art.

Note: ARTHI 1001 is the recommended prerequisite for ARTHI 1002.

FYS II are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year students, with an emphasis on further developing the foundational writing skills students learned in FYS I. Students will continue to hone the intellectual skills of reading critically, and writing responsively, which forms the basis of each student's career at the School. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds, which may include critical, analytical and argumentative essays, and must include the research paper. It is a policy of the department that at least one essay be a research paper which may involve searching for sources in a library or online, learning to make citations, and preparing an annotated bibliography. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing, and more sophisticated methods of argumentation and use of evidence and developing independent claims and ideas are explored. Students should expect to write 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing, short homework exercises, and workshopping of student work may be included. Individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.

This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.

In this course students explore the principles of visual communication by creating two-dimensional printed comprehensive layouts, and three-dimensional mock-ups. Stress is placed on process and development of solutions to problems; idea and form exploration; research; image and text development; compositional structure and hierarchy; verbal, technical, and hand skills. The course also covers the technical aspects of graphic design such as printing methods, papers, and binding.

Students will produce 3-4 finished pieces exploring the use of image and type in both single page format, multi-page format, and possibly three-dimensional format. These projects are to be included in the VCD department's obligatory portfolio review for advancement into the VCD intermediate courses.

This course will introduce students to basic techniques of working with sound as an artistic material. As a prerequisite for many of the department's upper level offerings, the class is designed to familiarize the student with both the technology and the historical and aesthetic background relevant to our facilities and courses, to the field of 'sound art' and experimental music in general, and to the application of sound in other disciplines (video, film, performance, installations, etc.) Equipment covered will include microphones, mixers, analog and digital audio recorders, signal processors and analog synthesizers. Hard-disk based recording and editing (ProTools) is introduced, but the focus is on more traditional analog studio technology. The physics of sound will be a recurring subject.

Examples of music and sound art, created using similar technology to that in our studios, will be played or performed and discussed in class. The listening list will vary according to the instructors' preferences. Readings are similarly set according to the instructors' syllabus: some sections employ more or less reading than others, contact specific instructors for details.

Students are expected to use studio time to complete weekly assignments, which are designed to hone technical skills and, in most cases, foster artistic innovation. Some of these projects can incorporate outside resources (such as the student's own computers and recordings), but the emphasis is on mastering the studio.

Image Studio is a course that challenges students to interpret, critically read text, conceptualize, and assess project parameters to implement design solutions. The creative process is a core focus throughout the assignments. The goal of this course is to explore the process of creating original imagery and visual information.

We utilize digital and analog means to create design solutions to projects that also require fundamental explorations with typography. We explore a diverse means of image construction from paper collage to photography and Photoshop manipulation.

Form studies examine design basics such as juxtaposition, repetition, and progression as well as the use of metaphor, analogy, and semiotics. The introduction of design context, audience awareness, and sequential narrative is also addressed.

This multilevel class is for students with or without experience in wheel throwing. Beginning students are introduced to ideas, materials and techniques for throwing vessels. They acquire the necessary skills to construct and analyze a wide range of vessel forms. Intermediate and advanced students continue their individual development of throwing, glazing and firing kilns. Course discussions focus on issues around the vessel to acquire critical understanding of containers and their functions, as well as using the wheel as a means for constructing sculptural forms.

Students are introduced to the fundamental principles and practices of woodworking through lectures, demonstrations, and projects.

This course will introduce hand papermaking as an art form using contemporary and traditional techniques. You will utilize and develop techniques and skills that are unique to this medium. We will focus on a range of fibers that have differing characteristics that can exemplify content investigation.

We will be reviewing many artists work for their use of material in conjunction with concepts pursued. This will include flat works, sculptural, installation, etc. - some will be actual works brought in to the classroom for a close up examination of process and idea.

Students will create a range of experimental works with the medium and produce a final body of self-directed work that will all be reviewed during 3 participatory group critiques.

For the beginning student this course offers a concentrated introduction to the entire stencil making and printing process. The advanced student may explore the more sophisticated techniques of digital and photographic stencil-making, photo-mechanical darkroom and printing work.

This course offers instruction in various methods of casting, including simple plaster molds, hydrocal-cement casts, simple body casts, thermal-setting rubber molds, wax, terra cotta, and paper casting. Students are advised to bring objects they desire to cast. (No hot metal casting in this course.)

This studio course explores typography's impact on language to create meaning, organization and tone. Students experiment in typographic composition and page structure with special regard to the flow and rupture of different text types and reading scenarios. Students learn the technical aspects of typography (specification and copyfitting), methods for composing dynamic multipage formats (combining digital and analog), and contexts (both historical and structural) for understanding the vast repository of typefaces. This course is a core requirement for the Visual Communication Design portfolio review.

The framing text for this class is Ellen Lupton's Thinking with Type. But students will be introduced to numerous examples from the history of (predominantly Western) letterforms and concretized language. Understanding these historical forms in their contexts will reveal the logic behind the modern classification of digital type.

Students produce weekly type projects which are critiqued and handed in as three project sets. The first set analyses letterforms, structurally and then programmatically. The next project set covers text setting and typographic compositions of increasing semantic and syntactic complexity. The last project is a multilingual, illustrated book layout where students engage the fundamental concept of 'structured variety' over a series of pages.

This class is a co-requisite with Beginning Typography and closely couples with the activities of this particular studio course. The lab components will introduce students to page layout software (namely Adobe InDesign), its terminology and its specific functions, its relationship to other software packages, techniques for composing and outputting digitally, and the technical aspects of digital typography. This information will be reinforced via tutorials and short design exercises which target specific topics and techniques covered during lectures. As the semester progresses, this class also functions as a working lab for the Beginning Typography studio class, allowing students to work on the same project across both classes and receive technology assistance from the instructor. This crossover reinforces the links between digital and non-digital composing and terminologies.

Beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels are given technical guidance for exploration of the formal and expressive properties of woven structures. Introductions to the preparation of the loom and basic weaves are presented to beginners. Intermediate and advanced students are introduced to a conceptual focus and a technical vocabulary and encouraged to develop individual direction. Group as well as individual critiques are an important part of this course.

Beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels are given technical guidance in the use of dyes and pigments on fabrics. Both hand-painting and -printing processes are explored. The technical vocabulary may include: silkscreen, photographic techniques, stencil and stamp printing, and direct painting. Intermediate and advanced students are introduced to a conceptual focus and a technical vocabulary and are encouraged to develop individual direction. Exploration of ideas will be augmented through research, discussions, group and individual critiques, slide presentations, and field trips.

In this studio course, students will explore relief printmaking techniques using woodblocks, linoleum, found-objects, foam, monoprints and digital processes. Students will learn how to properly carve, ink, and print blocks in order to create editions as well as experiment with non-traditional formats. Students will be exposed to the rich history of relief printmaking through traditional and contemporary examples, specifically works from AIC and SAIC collections. Returning students will expand upon previous projects and develop new approaches to exploring content and understanding relief techniques.

Students will be exposed to a wide variety of artists from the long and rich history of relief printmaking. We will examine artists who work traditionally within the medium, as well as artists who depend upon contemporary technology to create prints. Some of the artists we will explore in this course include Durer, Hokusai, Masereel, Mendez, Zarina and Baumgartner.

Over the course of the semester, students will create 10-20 prints that show an understanding of the various relief techniques demonstrated by the instructor. Students will also participate in a print exchange folio at the end of the course. Projects will be critiqued throughout the semester.

Light is a powerful tool for creative control. In this course, students learn to observe, measure, and manipulate light to enhance their photographic work. Through hands-on practice, they explore the interplay of natural, ambient, and artificial light sources¿including on-camera and hand-held flash¿within existing conditions. By understanding metering and light mixing techniques, students gain the skills to shape mood, depth, and atmosphere in their images. This course provides a strong foundation in lighting, equipping students with practical techniques to elevate their work with confidence and precision.

Artists' Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists' books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists' books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists' books.

This course explores the interpretation of the landscape using both drawing and painting mediums. The class works both inside and outside of the studio, taking advantage of the natural and architectural sites of Chicago adjacent to the School.

In this course, students will gain exposure to 'real-world' design practice, while developing a range of wood-shop skills. Working closely with a local furniture and home-goods company Offcut, students will design and prototype tabletop objects to be exhibited at the Offcut showroom in Chicago. Through a series of informative presentations, lectures, field trips and skill-building exercises, students will explore many of the challenges facing designers today; financial, social and environmental.

Course readings and discussions will vary, but typically address topics that will help students contextualize different approaches to designing objects while engaging in contemporary cultural concerns of material life cycles and sustainability. Some of the designers and texts we will examine throughout the semester include, but not limited to: Bruno Munari ¿ Art as Design, Junichiro Tanizaki ¿ In Praise of Shadows, Soetsu Yanagi ¿ The Beauty of Everyday Things, Seetal Solanki ¿ Why Materials Matter, Monica Khemsurov & Jill Singer ¿ How to Live with Objects.
The course will consist of introductory skill-building exercises followed by a main project to design an accessory or furniture piece from offcuts of wood provided by Offcut.

This course introduces students to sculptural ideas executed in various ceramic hand construction techniques including slab, coil, press mold, etc. Students will explore how the unique physical characteristics of clay can contribute to the content of the work. Construction strategies will be examined in a conceptual context, investigating issues of space, technology, and architectural implication to build a dimensional perspective of personal and societal relevance. Emphasis will be on process, exploration, and discussion.

We will examine artists who've instrumentalized clay in inventive and boundary-pushing ways. Some of the artists we'll look at are Arlene Schechet, Annabeth Rosen, Ron Nagel, Huma Bhabha, Genesis Belanger and more. Readings and screenings will vary but typically include interviews with contemporary artists and critical essays by Eva Respini, Clare Lilley, Rosalind Krauss and more.

Students should expect to produce a body of work consisting of assigned and self directed projects to be presented in a culminating midterm and final critique.

This class introduces the traditional animation techniques of creating movement through successive drawings. Techniques include metamorphosis, walking cycles, holds, squash and stretch, blur and resistance. Students use the pencil test Lunch-Box to view their work . Students complete a series of exercises encouraging a full range of animation skills and a final project. Films illustrating drawn-animation techniques are screened regularly.

This 15-day immersive studio course invites students to investigate the dynamic intersection of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art practice in Japan. Traveling through three culturally significant regions¿the Seto Inland Sea, Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe), and Tokyo¿participants will engage directly with Japan¿s layered histories through hands-on workshops, studio visits, and curated explorations of key cultural sites.

Program highlights include:
Intensive workshops with master artisans in traditional techniques such as washi papermaking, textile dyeing, and ukiyo-e woodblock printing
Visits to contemporary galleries, artist-run spaces, museums, and studios that illuminate Japan's evolving art landscape
Immersive encounters with cultural landmarks¿from Kyoto's contemplative temples to Tokyo's vibrant, hybrid art scenes
Through direct engagement with artists, curators, and scholars, students will critically examine how inherited craft practices inform and challenge contemporary modes of artmaking. This cross-cultural studio experience encourages experimentation with unfamiliar materials, processes, and conceptual frameworks, supporting students in expanding their own creative vocabularies through the lens of Japan¿s unique artistic context.

A six-credit option for this course is available for students who wish to extend their practice and complete portfolio-worthy work. This will require the production of a substantial body of work, accompanied by an online journal that documents the creative process and source information material as documented during our time in Japan. The experience will include additional independent studio time and culminate in a critique session held within six weeks of returning from Japan.

This 15-day immersive studio course invites students to investigate the dynamic intersection of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art practice in Japan. Traveling through three culturally significant regions¿the Seto Inland Sea, Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe), and Tokyo¿participants will engage directly with Japan¿s layered histories through hands-on workshops, studio visits, and curated explorations of key cultural sites.

Program highlights include:
Intensive workshops with master artisans in traditional techniques such as washi papermaking, textile dyeing, and ukiyo-e woodblock printing
Visits to contemporary galleries, artist-run spaces, museums, and studios that illuminate Japan's evolving art landscape
Immersive encounters with cultural landmarks¿from Kyoto's contemplative temples to Tokyo's vibrant, hybrid art scenes
Through direct engagement with artists, curators, and scholars, students will critically examine how inherited craft practices inform and challenge contemporary modes of artmaking. This cross-cultural studio experience encourages experimentation with unfamiliar materials, processes, and conceptual frameworks, supporting students in expanding their own creative vocabularies through the lens of Japan¿s unique artistic context.

A six-credit option for this course is available for students who wish to extend their practice and complete portfolio-worthy work. This will require the production of a substantial body of work, accompanied by an online journal that documents the creative process and source information material as documented during our time in Japan. The experience will include additional independent studio time and culminate in a critique session held within six weeks of returning from Japan.

This 15-day immersive studio course invites students to investigate the dynamic intersection of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art practice in Japan. Traveling through three culturally significant regions¿the Seto Inland Sea, Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe), and Tokyo¿participants will engage directly with Japan¿s layered histories through hands-on workshops, studio visits, and curated explorations of key cultural sites.

Program highlights include:
Intensive workshops with master artisans in traditional techniques such as washi papermaking, textile dyeing, and ukiyo-e woodblock printing
Visits to contemporary galleries, artist-run spaces, museums, and studios that illuminate Japan's evolving art landscape
Immersive encounters with cultural landmarks¿from Kyoto's contemplative temples to Tokyo's vibrant, hybrid art scenes
Through direct engagement with artists, curators, and scholars, students will critically examine how inherited craft practices inform and challenge contemporary modes of artmaking. This cross-cultural studio experience encourages experimentation with unfamiliar materials, processes, and conceptual frameworks, supporting students in expanding their own creative vocabularies through the lens of Japan¿s unique artistic context.

A six-credit option for this course is available for students who wish to extend their practice and complete portfolio-worthy work. This will require the production of a substantial body of work, accompanied by an online journal that documents the creative process and source information material as documented during our time in Japan. The experience will include additional independent studio time and culminate in a critique session held within six weeks of returning from Japan.

This course immerses participants in the life and work of Franz Kafka, surrealist thought, and contemporary Prague arts, including the installation art of David ¿erný. Students will visit cultural landmarks such as the DOX Center for the Arts, Franz Kafka Museum, Museum of Communism, and more, as well as excursions to Terezin Concentration Camp, Kutná Hora's ossuary, and Karlstejn Castle. The program coincides with the Prague International Fringe Theater Festival, providing students with a wide range of further cultural activities to experience. Students will explore surrealism, the uncanny, and the absurd, using journaling and sketchbooks to engage with dream imagery, hone attention to both assigned texts and the city, experiment with multiple modes of writing, and cultivate a surrealist sensibility, all while drawing on Prague's unique landscape, history, and creative culture for inspiration.

This course immerses participants in the life and work of Franz Kafka, surrealist thought, and contemporary Prague arts, including the installation art of David ¿erný. Students will visit cultural landmarks such as the DOX Center for the Arts, Franz Kafka Museum, Museum of Communism, and more, as well as excursions to Terezin Concentration Camp, Kutná Hora's ossuary, and Karlstejn Castle. The program coincides with the Prague International Fringe Theater Festival, providing students with a wide range of further cultural activities to experience. Students will explore surrealism, the uncanny, and the absurd, using journaling and sketchbooks to engage with dream imagery, hone attention to both assigned texts and the city, experiment with multiple modes of writing, and cultivate a surrealist sensibility, all while drawing on Prague's unique landscape, history, and creative culture for inspiration.

This class will entail travel to Singapore and Bali, two countries in Southeast Asia where contemporary art and performance meet the soul of ancient traditions. The trip will start in Singapore where the National Gallery Singapore, housed in a former colonial administrative building, will provide a historical overview of the region and the foundations of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art. In Bali, we will dive into embodied workshops, live performances, and exclusive collaborations with renowned local artists, experiencing firsthand the fusion of cutting-edge and time-honored artistic practices. We will be based in Ubud, away from the more touristy beach communities, and reside at the ARMA Museum and Gallery which will serve as a base for side trips to temples, studios, museums and artisans. This course offers a unique opportunity to become immersed in Southeast Asia¿s dynamic and rapidly changing cultural scene and engage directly with one of the most vibrant sectors of the modern and pre-modern global art world.

This class will entail travel to Singapore and Bali, two countries in Southeast Asia where contemporary art and performance meet the soul of ancient traditions. The trip will start in Singapore where the National Gallery Singapore, housed in a former colonial administrative building, will provide a historical overview of the region and the foundations of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art. In Bali, we will dive into embodied workshops, live performances, and exclusive collaborations with renowned local artists, experiencing firsthand the fusion of cutting-edge and time-honored artistic practices. We will be based in Ubud, away from the more touristy beach communities, and reside at the ARMA Museum and Gallery which will serve as a base for side trips to temples, studios, museums and artisans. This course offers a unique opportunity to become immersed in Southeast Asia¿s dynamic and rapidly changing cultural scene and engage directly with one of the most vibrant sectors of the modern and pre-modern global art world.

This is a 0 credit study trip placeholder course. Specific credit courses will be applied to your enrollment for the term based on your Study Trip Preregistration information.

This is a 0 credit study trip placeholder course. Specific credit courses will be applied to your enrollment for the term based on your Study Trip Preregistration information.

This class introduces students to the concepts and production of distributable artists' projects. Working closely with faculty, students develop projects to be printed on the Heidelberg offset press and Risograph machines. Multiples such as prints, books, zines, posters, stickers, cards, and packaging are examples of potential projects that utilize these high-volume printing processes. Image creation methods include digital, photo, collage, and hand-drawing. Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of binding and packaging techniques will be demonstrated. Through hands-on examples, readings, and visits to special collections, such as the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, a wide range of printed work and distributable projects will be shared and discussed. Over the semester, students can expect to complete a number of multi-color offset and risograph projects and participate in two critiques.

This is a team-taught class in an intensive, three-week immersion in comics. The faculty meet with the students individually and conduct rigorous group critiques. Students work with faculty one-on-one, participate in group critiques, and attend lectures prepared by the faculty members and/or guest speakers. Individual studios are provided to each student enrolled this course. Activities may include: studio visits, local field trips, visiting artists, and print demos. Grad and undergrad welcome.
Students will explore unique collections of mini-comics and zines brought in by faculty, catered toward individual projects.
Short assignments can be expected for the first few days, followed by a longer self-driven comic for the majority of the intensive.

In this class students will create photographic work inside and outside in the natural elements. This three-week course, Inside / Out, delves into both digital and analog using solar-printing techniques, with a unique focus on printing not only on paper but also on textiles and organic materials. Students will work with a variety of printing processes such as solar fast dye, cyanotypes to transform photographic imaging utilizing digital and analog methods. Students are encouraged to create sculptural contraptions to best capture the sun¿s rays to their preferred substrate of choice.

Students will investigate how artistic internal forces can influence the external changing sociopolitical landscape and vice versa. Class visits will include excursions to Chicago¿s parks and gardens. We will research historical scientific photography and local botany. Through digital printing, students will learn to work with inkjet printers to create negatives, while sun-printing techniques will allow them to create eco-friendly designs on cotton and other textiles. By the end of the course, students will develop a diverse portfolio that includes both traditional photographic prints and textile artwork, blending the technical precision of indoor printing with the organic, unpredictable results of outdoor sun printing to stitch together new photographic forms.

This course explores the sensualness and design of over one hundred years of lingerie making through the use of beautiful fabrics including linen, lace, silk, satin, chiffon and ribbons. Historical references and modern technology are explored through slides, video, books, museums and boutiques for the design of lingerie and under garments. The students drape, make patterns, and fit on a live model. Students are required to make one garment in muslin and their choice of fabric.

Electronic manuscripts combine images, words and potentially other media including sound and video. They include but are not limited to online narratives with interactive, hypertextual, animated, or generative elements; artists books (either online or with digital elements); innovative online portfolio pages; SoundWorks hosted on a webpage with textural or visual elements; and installations with digital narrative components. We will study issues in creating content for electronic manuscripts and explore the software, algorithms, and interfaces with which they are created, including social media platforms, HTML5/CSS; JavaScript, twine, and Inform7.

The works we will study in this course include Matt Huynh's scrolling 'The Boat,' in which a harrowing narrative of Vietnamese 'boat people' refugees unfolds amidst animated falling rain, storm-rocking graphics, voiced laments, light and dark, moving text, and floating images; Carla Gannis' triptych animation:'The Garden of Emoji Delights; Nick Montfort's generative concrete poetry 'Autopia'; Catt Small's 'SweetXheart¿, an interactive game that asks 'Can you get through a week in the life of a modern black woman?; and installed works such as Carolee Schneemann¿s 'Venus Vectors' and Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Camille Utterback's 'Talking Cure'.

Students will traverse examples; create content; learn/practice HTML5/CSS, basic JavaScript, twine, inform7, and social media-based authoring platforms, create work in the media of their choice.

This course focuses on creating promotional posters and book covers, from concept to the final product; telling a story through a single illustration. Divided into four major projects, it covers different stages of creation of a visually engaging illustration; from collecting references, thumbnails, preliminary illustration, to finishing in a medium of choice. It combines fine art with the professional, taking into consideration format, placement, visual hierarchy, and creation of a dynamic figure interacting with a setting. Some classes include guest lecturers.

Artists of all walks of life have made the plunge over the last two decades to create work digitally with a tablet. This skills-based intensive will investigate a wide range of digital drawing techniques, best practices, and formal concerns as they relate to comics specifically utilizing ProCreate and Adobe Illustrator software.
Examples will vary but typically include vertical scroll webcomics, editorial cartoons, caricature, and publication asset design.
Students can expect short technical assignments to make up the majority of this course. Students are expected to provide their own iPad and laptop for this course.

This course is an introduction to the User Interface (UI) / User Experience (UX) principles, issues, and methods of user-centered responsive web design (mobile, tablet, and laptop).
Students design a website of their choice, in two ways. The first way is making the website with Figma (2 weeks), and the second way translates the Figma website into a simplified HTML/ CSS website made with Dreamweaver (1 week).
Principles, issues and methods explored include: problem-solving processes, content organization / wireframes, navigation strategies, usability principles, interface look and feel, interface design elements, user requirements /specifications, audience analysis, and professional best practices.
This course is for students from all departments who may have no previous web design experience, as well as those with some experience who want to explore web design in new ways. There are no prerequisites for this course, and all necessary software skills will be taught in class.

This course is an introduction to the User Interface (UI) / User Experience (UX) principles, issues, and methods of user-centered responsive web design (mobile, tablet, and laptop).
Students design a website of their choice, in two ways. The first way is making the website with Figma (2 weeks), and the second way translates the Figma website into a simplified HTML/ CSS website made with Dreamweaver (1 week).
Principles, issues and methods explored include: problem-solving processes, content organization / wireframes, navigation strategies, usability principles, interface look and feel, interface design elements, user requirements /specifications, audience analysis, and professional best practices.
This course is for students from all departments who may have no previous web design experience, as well as those with some experience who want to explore web design in new ways. There are no prerequisites for this course, and all necessary software skills will be taught in class.

This interdisciplinary course considers the topic of craft practices and the therapeutic through the lens of feminist pedagogy, including theories of touch and interembodiment. Students will examine the critical role craft and the domestic arts have played in raising questions surrounding feminism, gender, and labor practices in everyday histories. The course examines local and international projects centering on memory, trauma and collaboration. The class will explore the ethics of community collaborations and how the practice of making can cultivate a sense of community, well-being, and social capital.

This kinetics course will explore the activation of art projects with materials that flow, inflate, pump, pour and move in unique ways. Demonstrations will introduce: basic electronics, pneumatics, air-muscles, inflatables, pumps, motors, actuators and the necessary means to power these devices. This course will explore materials and their unique properties when activated by these processes. Students will learn various techniques to animate and control art projects, including the use of the Arduino micro-controller and sensors.
Throughout the course, screenings and readings will introduce students to artists who work with kinetics, robotics and related fields. Artists shown and discussed in class include: Theo Jansen, Rapheal Lozano-Hemmer, Chico Mac Murtrie, Rebecca Horn. Students will be introduced to organizations, galleries and networks that support this type of art work including ARS Electronica, Rhizome and Bitforms gallery.
A series of workshops and smaller assignments will expose students to the potentials of these devices and processes in art making. Next, students will develop projects that utilize one or more of the systems covered in class. Students will be guided in project proposal development where ideas will be explored in group discussions. Mechanical and electronic fabrication techniques will be further explored through project development. Completed projects will be evaluated in group critiques.

This course explores the intersections between psychoanalysis, anthropology, art and childhood, emphasizing common ideas, concepts, techniques and methods across disciplines. The course consists of both theoretical and practical elements. Historical and contemporary ideas on art and human development are explored from multiple theoretical perspectives and interpretations of childhood. In the realm of the practical, students develop and implement collaborative art and ethnography projects guided by shared inquiries, and in opposition to dominant, totalizing narratives.

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

This is a team-taught, three-week intensive Summer studio class for students who want to investigate painting issues and explore formal and conceptual interests in detail. The faculty meet with the students individually and conduct rigorous group critiques. Activities include: visiting artists' studios, galleries and museum collections. Individual studios are provided to each student enrolled this course.

This is a team-taught, three-week intensive Summer studio class for students who want to investigate painting issues and explore formal and conceptual interests in detail. The faculty meet with the students individually and conduct rigorous group critiques. Activities include: visiting artists' studios, galleries and museum collections. Individual studios are provided to each student enrolled this course.

This intermediate studio will explore Lithography as an expanded practice for creating fine art prints that are both innovative and experimental. The course will focus on both individual and collaborative projects to expand the notions and practice of traditional lithography by combining it with other artistic practices. Students will be introduced to a range of printing techniques within the Printmedia Lithography studio area, including multi-color and plate-based lithography with hand-drawn, digital and photo based options for creating images. Examples of lithographs, short readings, and a visit to the AIC Prints and Drawings collection will support project development and discussion. Students can expect to complete three to five projects and participate in two critiques.

HTML defines the structure of a web page, while CSS lends style by controlling the presentation of elements. This online course caters to students with little or no prior coding experience. Through hands-on coding modules, students will use a text editing program to acquire proficiency in standards-compliant HTML and CSS. A strong emphasis on redundancy will ensure that coding concepts are fully understood and best practices reinforced. Students will undertake research, design, and coding tasks to create a fully functional, responsive website. With a solid understanding of HTML and CSS, students will explore opportunities to develop dynamic web pages that adapt seamlessly to different devices and screen sizes. Additionally, students will investigate interface possibilities, evaluate site navigation opportunities, and analyze the effectiveness of various page structures in communicating information effectively and efficiently. There are no prerequisites for this course.

This course investigates the properties and possibilities of traditional and modern media, grounds, supports, methods, adhesives, and pigments.

This multi-level course will explore the intersection of art and nature while foraging local plant and earth matter to create pigments for inks and paints. We will delve into the diverse world of pigments, employing various binders to craft water-based mediums such as inks, watercolor, gouache, and acrylic. Students will be introduced to both traditional and experimental techniques and extend beyond the studio, incorporating outdoor, in situ sessions where we actively forage materials.
We will learn about contemporary artists like Ricky Lee Gordan, Sam Falls, Cathy Hsaio, Elisabeth Heying, and more, who source their own pigments, examining how these artists thoughtfully incorporate them into their work. Simultaneously, we will look at the historical roots of pigments, tracing their origins and uncovering their myriad applications across cultures and time periods.
By the end of the course, students will not only possess the skills to create work using self-sourced pigments but will also gain a nuanced understanding of the historical and contemporary significance of pigments in the broader artistic context. This course will provide a unique opportunity to bridge art and sustainability while making a deeper connection to the natural world.

In this course, students will explore the art and craft of working with various soft metals, such as brass, bronze, copper, and silver. The curriculum covers a wide range of techniques such as soldering, forming, and centrifugal casting, enabling students to manipulate and shape metal into intricate forms. Utilizing a combination of hand tools and specialized equipment, students will learn to transform raw metal materials into functional and decorative objects. Emphasis will be placed on artistry and craftsmanship, with students developing their unique designs. This course bridges traditional practices with modern innovations, offering a comprehensive understanding of this ancient yet continually evolving art form.
Readings will explore topics of the historic metal eras including the Bronze and Iron Age, The Forge and the Crucible by Mircea Eliade, Metalworking Through History: A Modern Encyclopedia by Ana M. Lopez, Alchemy + Mysticism by Alexander Roob, A History Of Metallography: The Development Of Ideas On The Structure Of Metals Before 1890 by Cyril Stanley Smith, and The Secrets of Metals by Wilhelm Pelikan. Some contemporary metalsmith artists will be studied such as Michele Oka Doner. This class will also include a variety of handouts from the Metal Smith Society to demonstrate specific metal smithing techniques and tools.
We will have a midterm critique to review progress and then students should expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester.