Art Connects Us, Volume 9

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

Their work demonstrates a belief in our interconnectedness as people and our shared responsibility to make positive change. We know headlines may be overwhelming these days, so below you’ll find good news highlighting the incredible efforts of SAIC’s artists and designers to forge and deepen connections with our communities.

We hope it inspires you for the week ahead.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8

Faculty and Alums Awarded Grants for Neighborhood-Based Art Projects that Examine Racial Justice
Assistant Professor Salvador Jimenéz-Flores, Safiya Eshe Gyasi (BFA 2018), and Youree Kim (BFA 2017) are among the nine African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) artists who were recently awarded the Threewalls 2020 RaD Lab and Outside the Walls fellowship. The cohort will receive a total of $256,000 to develop neighborhood-based projects that imagine artistic pathways toward racial equity. read more

MFA Sculpture Students Launch Virtual Gallery
To make up for the loss of in-person exhibitions during the pandemic, students from the Sculpture department have launched a virtual gallery to experiment with new methods of collaboration and artmaking. Titled Perennial Space, the gallery has released three different exhibitions of work by students and recent alums, each of which contains art reflecting on selfhood, public and private spaces, and time. read more

Art in America Features Dread Scott’s Slave Rebellion Reenactment
Art in America recently featured the work of Dread Scott (BFA 1989), an artist known for works such as "What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?" and "A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday." In November 2019, Scott’s piece "Slave Rebellion Reenactment" brought the 1811 German Coast Uprising to life in the New Orleans French Quarter, highlighting “the contemporary stakes of historical remembrance.” read more

Alum Naimah Thomas’s Artwork Helps Raise More than $30,000 For the ACLU
Naimah Thomas (MA 2016) was asked to design special packaging for La Colombe Coffee Roasters in support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The artwork, titled "I Matter," specifically celebrates Black Lives Matter, and is featured on La Colombe's Lyon coffee blend and a limited-edition mug. Two dollars from each box and mug are donated to the ACLU, and to date, La Colombe has raised more than $30,000. read more