Fiber & Material Studies

Curriculum & Courses

Graduate Curriculum & Courses

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program is designed to offer maximum flexibility in addressing the needs of each individual student. Following admission through a department, students design their two-year plan of study based on optimizing the offerings and opportunities available throughout SAIC. 

AreaCredit Hours

Studio

  • Graduate Projects 6009 (21)
  • Exhibition 6009 (3)

24

 

Seminar

  • Graduate Level Seminars
12

Art History

  • ARTHI 5002 OR ARTHI 5120 (3)
  • Art History Courses, 4000-level or above (9)
12

Electives

Any course in any area at 3000-level or above 

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

Students who wish to use an alternative venue or presentation outside of these options must receive permission from the dean of graduate studies. 

12
Total Credit Hours60

*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

Graduate Projects 6009

Graduate Projects 6009 advising, an ongoing individual dialogue with a wide range of faculty advisors, is at the heart of the MFA program at SAIC, encouraging interdisciplinary study across the curriculum. Standard enrollment consists of two Graduate Projects 6009 advisors, one graduate-level seminar, and an art history course each semester. The remainder of credits required for the full-time 15-credit hour load may include academic or studio electives. All MFA students must register for a minimum of one and no more than two Graduate Projects 6009 sections each semester. Students may request permission from the Graduate Program Advisor to take a third Graduate Projects 6009 section after priority registration.

In their final year, students must take one Exhibition 6009 section. The advising and grade for this course will be tied to the final exhibition. When taking undergraduate studio coursework, the student is responsible for understanding the faculty member’s expectations about completion of assignments, attendance, and any other criteria for earning credit. MFA students interested in completing a written thesis must take a research course and Research 6009 section and obtain approval from the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.

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

This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips.

By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities.

Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.

Class Number

1389

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 902

Description

This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips.

By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities.

Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.

Class Number

1390

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1014

Description

This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips.

By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities.

Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.

Class Number

1401

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 902

Description

This course introduces students to a diverse range of textile materials, processes, histories, politics, traditions, and cultures of fiber and their relationships to contemporary art practice. Historical and contemporary approaches to process and materials are explored as students are introduced to a variety of fiber techniques in construction and surface application. Taught technique can include printing, tapestry weaving, immersion and resist dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, coiling, hand embroidery, machine sewing, piecework, and embellishment. Textiles have rich and complex histories in all cultures. Examples from across time and place will be explored and discussed through visual presentations, assigned readings, in-class discussions, visiting artist lectures, and field trips.

By the end of this course, students will become familiar with the formal, conceptual, expressive, and political potential of fiber as an expressive medium with limitless possibilities.

Course work will vary but typically includes the creation of technical samples, critique projects, and reading responses.

Class Number

1391

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 902

Description

This course introduces floor loom hand weaving through the study of weave structures, woven image techniques, and fiber types. Students will explore both traditional and experimental approaches to material and technique, including double weaves, dyed warps, and hand-manipulated methods such as brocade and inlay. Over the course of the semester, students will produce finished weavings on 4-harness floor looms through in depth exploration and research. The course also examines the global histories of woven cloth through readings, presentations, and class discussions. Artists studied may include Diedrick Brackens, Lenore Tawney, and Gunta Stölzl, alongside writings by Anni Albers, T'ai Smith, and Dieter Hoffman-Axthelm. Students will learn to read and work from weaving draft patterns and will conduct independent research into artists and techniques of personal interest. Throughout, the course engages with the conceptual and material considerations of contemporary craft-based art. Students present finished and in-progress work in individual and group critiques throughout the semester.

Class Number

1392

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1011

Description

This course demonstrates a wide range of screenprinting processes on fabric and alternative substrates, including textile inks, fiber reactive dyes, resist and discharge techniques, and heat transfers using foils and disperse dyes. Students will work with hand-drawn, computer-generated, and photographic images to explore screenprinting techniques and concepts such as monoprinting, multiples, color relationships, composition, and basic repeat patterns. Interdisciplinary and experimental approaches to the printed surface are encouraged as students develop their personal research and practice. The course is supplemented by lectures, readings, and visits to the AIC, artist studios, and galleries. Students present finished and in-progress work in individual and group critiques throughout the semester.

Class Number

1400

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 905

Description

This course explores stitching as a means of altering the surface of textiles and other pliable materials, examining its role across functional, decorative, and contemporary arts practices. Students will develop skills in traditional and non-traditional hand manipulation, machine sewing, and digital embroidery, including the use of design software for embroidery machines. Quilting, piecework, and appliqué are taught through both hand methods and work created on home sewing and Tin Lizzie machines. Technical skills are taught within the context of fiber, craft, and fine art discourse, encouraging students to develop work driven by their own formal, material, and conceptual concerns. Lectures and assigned readings broaden this foundation, situating course content within the history and contemporary landscape of the field. Students present finished and in-progress work in individual and group critiques throughout the semester.

Class Number

1396

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sharp 1014

Description

The word 'craft' has been used both as a badge of honor and as a dismissive slur. This seminar will explore the stereotypes, the history and the changing status of craft in relation to contemporary art in America.

We will read essays by craft theorists and makers including Marie Lo, M. Anna Fariello, Bruce Metcalf, L.J. Roberts and Namita Gupta Wiggers and watch the PBS Docuseries 'Craft in America' to help us triangulate an ever-shifting definition of craft. Students will bring previously-critiqued, in-process and revised work to 3 critiques, where an emphasis will be placed not just on WHAT objects mean but also HOW they mean.

Course work includes weekly free-writing, reading discussions, and several assignments designed to help students articulate their artistic concerns and contextualize their work.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll.

Class Number

2044

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

MacLean 301

Description

This class investigates the properties of the elemental act of twisting raw materials into pliable linear elements. Students learn to spin and ply--using drop spindles and wheels--and to extend elements through rope making and various splicing techniques. Building on this foundation, students manipulate these fibrous elements into 2- and 3-dimensional forms as well as exploring expressive possibilities, and the limits of materials and structures.

Topics for reading and discussion include the development of spinning and textile production, the social and economic histories of labor, historic and contemporary art examples of spun and structured fiber, and current cultural interests in reclaiming the handmade.

Course work includes reading responses, participation in discussions, assembling a set of samples, reporting on research and 3 studio projects.

Class Number

1409

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 902

Description

This studio course will consider how to compose a picture plane with a variety of materials including paper collage, fabric piecing, applique, heat press, direct dye application and other handwork, to create line and form. Students will make use of drawing and form invention methods including stitching and dying, in conjunction with, or in place of, painted surfaces. Projects and critiques will address the critical use of compositional elements and materials within the picture plane.

Class Number

1403

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 904

Description

In this class, students will learn reactive processes for use in screen printing on fabric and pliable materials. Reactive processes are those that will chemically or physically alter the nature of the printed cloth and include; fiber reactive dyes, devoré or the burning away of fibers, bleaching and removing of color, and the sublimation of color from one surface to another. Screen printing will be the primary method of creating works, yet a broad disciplinary approach is encouraged.
Assignments will be framed to address concepts of alchemy and instability, and include readings of works by; Georges Bataille, Anthony Vidler, Luce Irigaray, Yve-Alain Bois and Rosalind Krauss.
Students will create three studio intensive projects for class critiques. Prior screen printing experience is recommended.

Class Number

1413

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 905

Description

This intensive studio course focuses on planning, experimentation, and production of woven works on traditional floor looms, computer-interfaced looms, and semi-industrial Dobby looms housed between the weaving studios in Fiber and Material Studies and The Weaving Mill (TWM), an artist-run industrial weaving studio in Humboldt Park which blends design, production, textile education and research-based practice. This course introduces students to experimental weaving designs, unconventional methods and materials, and the opportunity to produce their ideas at scale with access to the fully mechanized Dobby looms at The Weaving Mill.

Students will engage in rigorous studio practices, material culture research, and practical applications of their work. While conceptual questions around making will be central to the coursework, students will also be supported in identifying and researching the socio-economic and political ramifications of working in the language of woven cloth. Readings may include works by Hito Steryl, Rosalind Krauss, Jen Hewett, Anni Albers, T¿ai Smith, Peter Stallybrass, Karl Marx.

Over the course of the semester, students will produce a range of individually-motivated woven samples and studies, eventually working within the production parameters of the industrial looms at TWM to design and produce yardage for installation, object design, and artists¿ projects. Additionally, students will work alongside members of the W.E.F.T. program, a textile studio for adults with developmental disabilities run by TWM, broadening discussions around labor, value, ability and access

Class Number

1408

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Art/Design and Politics, Community & Social Engagement, Sustainable Design

Location

Sharp 1011

Description

In this studio course students will explore basket weaving techniques and their interconnectedness to the history and traditions of the craft. The class will utilize both traditional and non-traditional methods and materials to investigate new ways of creative expression while carrying the long, multi-cultural basket weaving tradition.
Readings may include Revered Vessels: Custom and Innovation in Harari Basketry and Hybrid Basketry: Interweaving Digital Practice within Contemporary Craft. Students will be introduced to Native North American basket weaving and the ancient baskets of both Egypt and Israel to bring an understanding of the contemporary craft through its historical origins. Artists such as Hayakawa Shokosai, the Campana Brothers, and Ruth Asawa will be a point of reference for the class as a way to connect their own conceptual framework to this traditionally utilitarian craft.
Students should expect to produce a variety of technique-based samples as well as a midterm and a final culminating project. This course requires an artist presentation and assigned readings. Students will reflect on the readings with written responses to connect contemporary works with historical craft.

Class Number

1407

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Art/Design and Politics

Location

Sharp 902

Description

This course teaches students hand knitting with an emphasis on sustainable materials and practices. Themes of waste, re-use, recycling, and the redesign of pliable materials will serve as foundational concepts around which students will center their making. Students will learn hand knitting techniques, how to read and write knit and pattern languages, steeking, unraveling existing knits, rehanging yarn to reclaim fiber, needle felting for knits, crochet, crewel work, and hand-stitching techniques.
Historic and contemporary knits will be encountered through visits to SAIC¿s Textile Resource Center and the Art Institute of Chicago¿s Textile collection. Artists presented in relation to public action, community building, and sustainable studio practices include the works of Magda Sayeg, Ernesto Neto, Wells Chandler, Jesse Harrod, and Orly Genger. Class discussions will address texts by Alden Wicker and Rebecca Burgess, and consider local and global community fiber/textiles programs in relation to environmentalism.
Assignments include readings, media viewing, discussions, explorations of knit stitches, and midterm and final studio assignments. Students will use existing and alternative raw goods and pliable materials, re-engineering them to create a range of project outcomes including 2-D and 3-D works, installations, performances and public actions.

Class Number

2377

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Art/Design and Politics, Community & Social Engagement, Sustainable Design

Location

Sharp 902

Description

This course examines theoretical notions of repetition in relation to ornament and image redundancy, putting those ideas into practice through studio practice. Students will consider the copy in relation to authenticity, and the ways reproduction can supplant¿or complicate¿the idea of an 'original.' A central focus of the course is repeat pattern production within the context of fine and applied art, with outcomes including design, sculpture, installation, and wall-based work.
Students will learn the mechanical aspects of building repeat patterns using both analog and digital methods. Screen printing on fabric and other pliable substrates will serve as the primary form of output. The course builds on and advances students' existing screen printing knowledge, introducing advanced techniques such as multi-color and CMYK printing, digital tools as a preparatory step for screen printing, and printing on fabric, paper, and alternative materials. Assignments, critiques, lectures, technical demonstrations, and readings will guide students through the course content. Students are encouraged to consider the context of their production in relation to high and low forms of culture.

Class Number

2255

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Digital Imaging

Location

Sharp 905

Description

A drawing is created whenever an object in motion touches the surface of another, leaving behind evidence of that encounter. Students will generate images by examining a range of traditional and contemporary drawing techniques, with an emphasis on analog processes and material exploration. Whether one's style is gestural and improvisational or systematic and detail-oriented, drawing serves as a device for accessing ideas and expanding conceptual vocabulary.
Printmaking then becomes an extension of the drawing process, adding richness of surface, color, texture, and layering. A priority is placed on examining the physical relationship between drawing and printing, with a focus on direct printing techniques such as monoprinting, screen-printing, and heat transfers, alongside hand-painting and collage. Strong emphasis will be placed on developing a personal, innovative visual language and on challenging conventional notions of scale, site, and material.

Class Number

1397

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 905

Description

This course focuses on the concept of softness. Students will develop projects framed by readings on affect, intimacy, radical softness, touch, and soft identities, teasing out what it means to be 'soft.' Students will be introduced to a range of hand-manipulated and machine techniques¿including reverse needle felting, latch hooking, tucking, stabilizing, boning, armature building, fabric heat manipulation, natural dyeing, flocking, and fringe crocheting. Students are encouraged to experiment with texture and form using these methods.
Two experimentation samples will be required to manifest these conceptual underpinnings through a variety of techniques. Sampling acts as a playful guide leading to two major projects, each accompanied by a written statement. This course also requires artist and reading presentations. Readings may include Sara Ahmed's 'Happy Objects,' Alexander Theroux's 'Soft Balm, Soft Menace,' and Sianne Ngai's 'The Cuteness of the Avant-Garde.'

Class Number

1398

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sharp 1014

Description

This professional practice course that focuses on preparing for all things life after school. As scaffolding throughout the course we will explore the text, How to be an artist at night by Raqs media collective to explore a range of questions and themes in art practice at the intersection of contemporary life. What constitutes an education for the real world? How do we grow a community that supports and is in conversation with our work? What are the professional skills we need to sustain our practice outside the studio? How do we write about, talk about and present our work? What are the practices of self care we can cultivate to fuel our creativity?

Other readings will include teaching to transgress- Bell Hooks, The Artist's Guide: How to make a living doing what you love- Jackie Battenfield, The Social Production of Art- Janet Wolff. We will also watch and respond to short films. Course work will vary but will typically include writing an artist statement, bio and exhibition proposal.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: Sophomore seminar course

Class Number

1586

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Exhibition and Curatorial Studies, Public Space, Site, Landscape, Social Media and the Web

Location

MacLean 301

Description

This professional practice seminar emphasizes sustainability (emotional, economic, and environmental) as key for living artists. Each student will develop a sustainable work flow for organizing opportunities, documenting expenses, and applying for exhibitions, grants and residencies. Emphasis will be placed on sustainable material sourcing, both for environmental concerns and our own economic needs. Discussions and readings will revolve around how to keep making art, even when life gets in the way. Students will learn practical skills that serve their work (tweaking artist statements for various opportunities, developing and maintaining a website, ongoing research ) along with stress-management techniques (organized work flow, time-management, knowing when to take a break and how to rest more effectively, peer-to-peer support, dealing with rejection). This course will address the myriad ways studio artists get paid outside the commercial gallery system via recorded interviews with living artists. Readings include 'Art and Fear' (David Bayles and Ted Orlando) and 'Artists Gotta Eat and Other Things We Forget to Remember' by Tempesst Hazel. Past Visiting Artists have included Selina Trepp, who uses and reuses the material in her studio, and Sadie Woods, who is an artist, curator and DJ. Similar Visiting Artists will be chosen in future semesters. Each student will create a personal opportunities database, create a submission for the opportunity of their choice, write an artist statement, bio and CV, build a portfolio website, give an artist talk and develop a sustainable plan for sourcing materials and managing stress.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: Sophomore seminar course

Class Number

1580

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Exhibition and Curatorial Studies, Public Space, Site, Landscape, Social Media and the Web

Location

MacLean 301

Description

This intensive studio course will focus on weaving and its relation to the evolving landscapes of contemporary art, cultural production, and identity. Working with multi-harness floor looms, students will engage rigorous conceptual questions in abstraction, figuration, sculptural form, spatial intervention, performative action, technology, and language to develop a mature body of woven work. Vocabulary will be expanded through the study of complex woven constructions, digital drafting, and dye processes. Feminist, queer, and decolonial approaches to weaving will be introduced and encouraged. Designed for advanced students, this course engenders an interdisciplinary weaving practice by blurring the boundaries between fiber, critical craft, painting, material culture, sculpture, textile history, architecture, and technology studies.

Students will consider the history and the future of the field through a varying roster of artists including significant figures such as Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, Magdalena Abakanowicz, and Olga de Amaral alongside contemporary generations such as Sonya Clark, Miguel Arzabe, Diedrick Brackens, Erin M. Riley, Josh Faught, Samantha Bittman, and Cecilia Vicuña. This work will be supported by texts that typically include Anni Albers, Legacy Russel, T'ai Smith, Julia Bryan-Wilson, and César Paternosto.

Critical discussion of core texts and individualized research will occur in tandem with weekly studio activity. Students will produce a series of studies and 2 - 4 fully realized woven works that will be developed through in-process discussions and presented in major critique settings. This course facilitates self-directed investigation of concept and technique in hand weaving.

Prerequisites

FIBER 2002 or Junior & above

Class Number

1393

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1011

Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature. Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

Prerequisites

Open to students at Junior level and above.

Class Number

1394

Credits

6

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1001

Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature. Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

Prerequisites

Open to students at Junior level and above.

Class Number

1394

Credits

6

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1001

Description

The computer driven Jacquard goes beyond the limitations of a floor loom by interfacing with a computer to allow for direct control of individual threads. This course explores the historical and conceptual interstices of digital technology and hand weaving through the use of this loom. Utilizing Photoshop and Jacquard weaving software, students realize projects that begin with digital source material and result in hand woven constructions. The strongly debated connection between the Jacquard loom's use of punched cards and the history of computers is central to the course, as is the contemporary use of the loom as a new media tool. Studio work blends work at the computer, weaving on the loom, reading, research and critical discussion. A personal laptop computer is required for this course.

Class Number

1406

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1011

Description

This seminar will use the Textile Resource Center as source material to explore artist research practices. An emphasis will be placed on slow looking and hands-on study of objects to gain an understanding of textile and fiber structures, material choices, modes of fabrication and production, while assessing larger frames of cultural context, meaning and metaphor. Through thoughtful guided close observation, we will learn about the complex lives of objects and the stories that they tell us to inspire and act as a foundation for our own creative work. Classroom guests will include artists and scholars from areas in conservation, science and technology, and anthropology to extend our perspectives in how we view and understand objects. We will take field trips behind the scenes at the Art Institute, and also address topics in fiber morphology and mechanics, microscopy, collections care, exhibition, installation, curation, and collections management. Students will be expected to develop studio work, written research, and class presentations. Exploring these materials through drawing, notation, photography, video, live action, and remaking will be considered.

Prerequisites

Open to students at Junior level and above.

Class Number

1399

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Exhibition and Curatorial Studies

Location

Sharp 1003

Description

A detailed exploration of contemporary handmade paper techniques and fibers with an emphasis on development on a body of work that ties students¿ existing studio practice to production of handmade paper objects. Building on the knowledge of the fibers introduced in Papermaking 1 (cotton, abaca and mulberry), although not a prerequisite, students will be introduced to three additional fibers (flax, hay, and sisal) while exploring production methods that lend themselves to creating imagery and language. Each lecture will focus on a specific fiber or production method (i.e. stenciling, pulp throwing, pigment).

This course deepens familiarity with production methods through self directed conceptual projects, experiment with additional high cellulose fibers and use handmade paper as an essential component of your studio practice. Students will investigate material relevant to their interests, cook fibers, and beat their own paper pulp with the valley beater.

Prerequisites

Open to students at Junior level and above.

Class Number

1404

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Area of Study

Public Space, Site, Landscape, Art and Science, Sustainable Design

Location

Sharp 1014

Description

This advanced course investigates stitching as a critical and material practice for transforming the surface, structure, and meaning of textiles and other pliable substrates. Students pursue a strong personal direction while developing technical vocabulary alongside conceptual concerns, moving across hand stitching, embroidery, needlework, beading, free motion sewing, hand and machine quilting on long arm machines, digital embroidery design and output, and fabric dyeing or dispersion methods. The course explores gesture, line, speed, slowness, process, and materiality, with emphasis on surface manipulation, scale, and the relationship between material knowledge and conceptual meaning.
Emphasis is placed on independent, self-directed studio work, using technical processes as tools for inquiry rather than ends in themselves. Lectures, visiting artist talks, field trips, equipment tutorials, and readings situate student work within broader discourses around labor, domesticity, identity, materiality, and the politics of craft. Group critiques, peer reviews, and one-on-one faculty advising support individual goals while fostering dialogue about contemporary issues in the field. Coursework includes critiqued projects, technical samples, and reading responses.

Prerequisites

FIBER 2005 or Sophomore Level

Class Number

1395

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1014

Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature.

Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: Professional practice course

Class Number

1154

Credits

6

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1001

Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature.

Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: Professional practice course

Class Number

1154

Credits

6

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 1001

Description

This seminar introduces incoming first year FMS graduate students to each other and their respective work and interests, the School community and resources, and the larger Chicago community, arts community, and local resources. Relevant historical and contemporary issues and concerns will take different thematic forms each year. Emphasis is on deepening one?s understanding of their studio practice through critical discussion and evaluation, and deepening one?s engagement with fiber histories, materials, processes, cultures, and politics. The seminar is always developed in conjunction with visiting artists' presentations and critiques, as well as readings, discussions, field trips, lectures, student presentations, and in-depth studio visits and critiques.

Course work varies but typically includes presenting in-process and completed studio work for critique, student presentations, reading discussions, and research/investigation assignments.

Class Number

2264

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 903

Description

This seminar examines critique of studio practice in an open discourse style for graduate students. Each student will develop and articulate key concerns in their work during studio visits and/or small group critiques through writing, researching, material questions, and contextualizing their practice. We will evaluate the work within the studio and exhibitions in a respectful and productive manner through art historical context, social & political climates, process & skill, institutional frameworks, and experiences. Writing will be centered on individual practice, observation, biography, and deep looking of artworks. Additionally, visits with galleries, museum collections, and professionals in the field will be scheduled.

Class Number

1911

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Sharp 903

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

1912

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

1913

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

1914

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

1915

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

1916

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

1917

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Prerequisites

Open to MFA, MFAW and MAVCS students only

Class Number

2143

Credits

3

Department

Fiber and Material Studies

Location

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.