Undergraduate Exhibition Information

SAIC Undergraduate Exhibition

Questions about the Undergraduate Exhibition? Contact us at UG-Exhibition@saic.edu

The Undergraduate Exhibition takes place at SAIC Galleries located at 33 E. Washington!

The Undergraduate Exhibition helps to serve senior level students with their ongoing creative professional practice. This exhibition helps develop skills for this and all exhibitions post-SAIC life. Participating students will experience the process of how to exhibit work in a professional setting, and how to navigate and collaborate in a large group exhibition. Participation in this senior exhibition is not a degree requirement. The Undergraduate Exhibition occurs twice annually in both the fall and spring semesters.

Dates

SAIC Galleries is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Closed Sundays.

Undergraduate Exhibition Fall 2022 November 4 - 18
Undergraduate Exhibition Spring 2023 April 7 - 15

Registration and Participation Tracks

Participation in the Undergraduate Exhibition is based on the Registrar’s records of a student's degree program and credit hours. All senior-level students (who have completed 90 or more credits) will receive an email semester assignment notification from the Department of Exhibitions at the start of the fall semester informing them which semester they are assigned based on these criteria. Students are only eligible to participate in one exhibition/event during their senior year.

Exhibition/event registration is split by semester. Registration instructions are emailed to seniors at the start of their assigned semester.

Semester assignments are your assigned Undergraduate Exhibition option.

  • -Students may be assigned to the Fall Undergraduate Exhibition even if they do not intend to graduate until the following semester.
  • -We are not able to accommodate requests from students to switch their assignment.

This process guarantees all eligible students an opportunity to participate in a culminating exhibition or event during their senior year--it does not guarantee an exhibition option in their final semester. For questions about the number of credits you have earned and your related senior status, your expected graduation term, your plan for completing your degree requirements, or your eligibility, please contact Academic Advising.

There are three ways to participate in the Undergraduate Exhibition:

1. Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition - This is an exhibition Capstone course culminating with a dedicated space and a group-curated, faculty-led exhibition opportunity within the larger Undergraduate Exhibition, Fall and Spring.  

  • -Students who register for Fall sections of this course (in April of the preceding Spring) will automatically be assigned to the Fall Exhibition.
  • -Students interested in participating in the Spring sections of this course must have received an assignment to the Spring exhibition in the Fall in order to be eligible to register for a spring Capstone 4900: Senior Exhibition course.

Learn more about Capstone courses here.

2. Independent Artist (via The Lottery) - Students participate as individual artists in the Undergraduate Exhibition. Spaces are selected by students based on a lottery system during Space Claim. 

Through the exhibition/event registration form, students will select a space type to present their work:

  • -Wall
  • -Floor/Ceiling
  • -Combo(A limited section of wall and floor
  • -Installation Room (Faculty juried)

After registration closes, the gallery hosts Space Claim in the evenings for students who registered in the Independent Artist track to select a space in person based on their registered space type listed above.

3. Digital Feature - Digital Feature artists will submit still images/documentation of work, which will be prominently featured on the gallery's street-level atrium projector and throughout the galleries during the Spring Undergraduate Exhibition. Students assigned to either the fall or spring exhibition can register for this option in place of showing in person.

Installation Opportunities

Students should familiarize themselves with these creative parameters when participating in the Undergraduate Exhibition.

Review the UGE Creative Parameters here.

If you are planning on incorporating any of these items or materials, please reach out to us at UG-Exhibition@saic.edu as soon as possible. We will do our best to help you explore appropriate alternatives for your project.

Additionally, students should consult  Art School Considerations (ASC) Checklist to determine if a project may present a health, safety, legal or other types of concern. The ASC checklist should be consulted during the conceptualization phase of a project, and at any point thereafter when details are adjusted. If a project involves any of the items on the checklist, the Exhibitions team, on behalf of the artist, will bring the proposed project to the ASC committee for review.

View the Art School Considerations Checklist here. 

Questions about the Undergraduate Exhibition? Contact us at : UG-Exhibition@saic.edu

Spring 2020 Undergraduate Online Exhibition

Click here to view the Spring 2020 Undergraduate Online Exhibition, which launched in May 2020!