Exhibition Opportunities

 

Graduate Exhibition

SAIC's campus offers you a number of opportunities for showcasing your artwork whether it is a sound installation, photograph, painting, performance, sculpture, or a combination of media. Read on to learn more about the venues to which SAIC students can apply to show their work.

Department of Exhibitions

Through programming in the Sullivan Galleries, Student Union Galleries, and other temporary locations on and off campus, the Department of Exhibitions seeks to generate new research around issues, ideas, and professional practices in art and design, while stimulating dialogue among the wider arts community.

Sullivan Galleries

The Sullivan Galleries represent 32,000 square feet of exhibition space. Located in the historic site of Louis Sullivan’s masterpiece, the Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building, the galleries feature exhibitions, performances, lectures, and screenings by SAIC students, faculty, and guest artists. The end-of-year MFA, BFA, Post-Bac in Studio, and Graduate Design exhibitions are held here.  

Student Union Galleries (SUGs)

  • The LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery
  • Gallery X

Producing between 12 and 15 exhibitions of student work each year, SUGs has become a staple of SAIC student life—a place where student artists and curators can present and challenge their work in a public setting. Any enrolled student may submit a proposal for an exhibition, allowing for programs that provide open exchange across disciplines and departments, as well as with vital members of Chicago’s art community. SUGs has two exhibition spaces, Gallery X in SAIC’s Columbus Drive building and the LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, housed on the first floor of the new, highly visible student center at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Monroe Street.

Non-Gallery Spaces

There are a number of unconventional spaces for students to exhibit work across campus. The Department of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies reviews proposals and works with students and faculty to realize projects that necessitate installation in hallways, outside spaces, public meeting rooms, or other spaces. Other vital programs include:

  • ExTV—a student-run broadcast platform that shows student films, videos, and animations as well as hosts independent media, lectures, special events, and the community bulletin board.
  • Free Radio SAIC—a student-run Internet station with an “anything goes” format that allows students to experiment with eclectic performances, narratives, and sounds. 
  • FNewsmagazine—distributing 6,000 copies a month across the city, F News is a unique and widely read vehicle for displaying student writing and art, including fiction, reporting, poetry, essays, criticism, comics, and illustration. 
  • The Video Hall—located in the heavily trafficked entrance of the Sharp Building, this space displays film, video, and animation pieces, as well as 2D and 3D work digitally.
  • The LeRoy Neiman Center—the student center has 25 Christie MicroTiles available for proposals to present video installations.
  • Residence Halls—SAIC’s residence halls have numerous spaces where you can show your work. Installation Nation, the residence hall’s gallery committee, organizes and facilitates opportunities for residents to curate, install, exhibit, and critique work.