Beyond Campus | School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Aerial view of the Art Institute of Chicago

We are Chicago

SAIC is an urban campus in a diverse city, and our lives as students and faculty are woven with the lives of the neighborhoods around us. As artists and designers, we collaborate with communities to solve local problems, beautify the city, and help make Chicago a place where everyone can thrive.

Photo by Jim Prinz.

Art Connects Us

We Are Citizen Artists

We don’t live in an art bubble. We make work as members of our society, and by making we can reshape our world. To be a citizen artist is to engage beyond campus and reimagine art as a force for change.

Citizen Artist

Citizen Artists

We’re Active in Chicago’s Communities

SAIC is deeply engaged with Chicago’s underserved North Lawndale neighborhood. Through the School’s center at Homan Square, we work hand-in-hand with community leaders and members. And when we collaborate, we connect.

SAIC at Homan Square

Two students painting a sign on the sidewalk by a bike rack

Day of Service

Painting signs, making gardens ... Student volunteers take on a variety of projects in North Lawndale during this annual event. Some keep coming back to do more.

A mockup illustration on a photo of an intersection

Walk-H

Students have been working with the community to make the neighborhood more walkable—because wellness and economic health depend on walkability.

A volunteer planting a tree in Homan Square

Palas Por Pistolas

Pedro Reyes and SAIC students visited North Lawndale to re-stage the artist’s conceptual work, transforming confiscated firearms into shovels.

CCA Academy Food Forest

The Perma Park food forest is a collaborative neighborhood garden serving as both classroom and community food source. SAIC students helped create it.

Placemaking

A Safe Skate Space for All

Using an SAIC student grant, Lid Madrid (BFA 2021) created OnWord Skate Collective to carve out a non white male–dominated skate scene for anyone with wheels and the will to ride.

Painting the City Red, Yellow, Purple…

The Chicago Public Art Group works with artists and designers to uplift neglected city spaces with painted murals. Over the years, SAIC’s students, faculty, and alums have been part of the community effort.

A piece of street art declaring “we are a nation of immigrants” amongst other pro-immigration sentiments

Assistant Professor Salvador Jimenéz-Flores created his mural, The Declaration of Immigration, in 2009 to encourage a national dialogue around immigration.

An elaborate, colorful piece of street art situated on a wall

Mitchell Caton and SAIC alum Calvin Jones (BFA 1957) painted their African-inspired mural, Another Time’s Voice Remembers My Passion’s Humanity, in 1979. Restored in ’93, the Bronzeville piece is a mainstay of Chicago’s rich mural history.

An elaborate painting of buildings sits in an underpass

Urban Oasis, painted on a Rogers Park train underpass in 2010 by alum Leah Tumerman (MFA 2008), celebrates Chicago’s multifaceted architecture and urban wildlife.

A series of paintings on a brick wall depicting many famous artists

The Artist’s Window, an Oak Park mural painted by alum Tia Etu (BFA 1986) in 2015, suggests both the historical significance and boundless future possibilities for Chicago’s dynamic arts district.

An image of a few small, wooden models on a windowsill.

Keep Exploring

Chicago: Our Home & Campus

Off-Campus Study

Student Activities

An image from Echo: A Site-specific Installation and Architecture Exhibition.