Art Connects Us, Volume 32

At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), our community has responded to the current moment as true citizen artists.

Our community's work demonstrates a belief in our interconnectedness as people and our shared responsibility to make positive change. Below you’ll find just a few of the stories that build our optimism, reignite our passion, and fill us with hope for the future.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
Volume 10
Volume 11
Volume 12
Volume 13
Volume 14
Volume 15
Volume 16
Volume 17
Volume 18
Volume 19
Volume 20
Volume 21
Volume 22
Volume 23
Volume 24
Volume 25
Volume 26
Volume 27
Volume 28
Volume 29
Volume 30
Volume 31

In Her New Exhibition, Alum Sonya Clark Explores the History of Black Hair
Alum Sonya Clark’s (BFA 1993) new exhibition—Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend at the National Museum of Women in Arts—showcases more than 100 of her works completed over the past 25 years. Hyperallergic explores how Clark celebrates Black hair in her fiber art, and how she’s made meaning of its cultural and political aspects over the course of her career. read more

Giving Supporters a Unique SAIC Experience
In the spring of 2020, when SAIC courses had to shift online, Professor and former Dean of Faculty Lisa Wainwright realized the School had an opportunity. To raise money for the Walter and Shirley Massey Chicago Scholarship Fund, which provides critically important need-based scholarships for students from Chicago, faculty members could host sessions of their classes on Zoom for supporters. A year later, this program has raised $60,000 for student scholarships. read more

Lecturer Iymen Chehade Looks To Open Theater Centering Palestinian Stories
In 2014, Lecturer Iymen Chehade founded Uprising Theater, a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying Palestinian voices. Now, Chehade and co-artistic director Maren Rosenberg are looking to transform an Avondale building that has been in Chehade’s family for decades into the theater’s new home base. “I want to ensure that not only [my father’s] legacy continues in the area, but that the community benefits from it the way they should,” Chehade shared. read more