Art Connects Us, Volume 35

A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

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
Volume 32
Volume 33
Volume 34

Two individuals pose in a white gallery space — Bing Chen and Kelly Huang. Photo by Blaine Davis. Image courtesy of ARTnews

Alum Kelly Huang Helps to Launch Award Recognizing AAAPI Artists
Alum Kelly Huang (MA 2009) co-founded the Gold Art Prize, a $25,000 award which will be given out every other year to five artists who are Asian American and Pacific Islanders or from the Asian Diaspora. “For us, the goals are very clear: it’s to support artists first and foremost, to increase scholarship, and to inspire the current and next generation to be more engaged with contemporary art,” Huang shared. read more

SAIC Community Members Receive Inaugural Frieze Impact Prize
Associate Professor Maria Gaspar and alum Dread Scott (BFA 1989) were selected as the winners of the Frieze Impact Prize. The award recognizes justice-involved artists and those contributing to the movement to end mass incarceration in the US. Winners each receive $25,000 for a work of art relating to the movement to end mass incarceration. read more

Standing in front of the mural The Cool, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces a beautification effort in partnership with Showtime, the network behind The Chi. Image courtesy of Pascal Sabino/Block Club Chicago.

Damon Lamar Reed to Paint New Murals on Chicago’s South and West Sides
The creators and cast of the Showtime series The Chi donated $500,000 to the Greencorps Chicago green job training program and the Chicago Public Art Group. The grant will pay for the clean-up and beautification of 32 empty lots and six accompanying art installations in Bronzeville and North Lawndale, which will include work by alum Damon Lamar Reed (BFA 1999). read more

April 2024: Faculty and Staff Accomplishments