Magazine - Fall 2017

The fall 2017 issue of School of the Art Institute of Chicago magazine explores the stories of faculty and alumni whose work embodies the idea of engaged citizenship. These citizen artists reimagine traditional notions of art making to make a positive change in our world. See their stories below.

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August 22, 2017

The Initiator

Tania Bruguera (MFA 2001, HON 2016) is igniting a revolution after announcing her candidacy for president of Cuba. Through her art practice, she transformers her audience into engaged citizens. 

August 23, 2017

Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists' Residency

Over 100 years after its founding, the tradition of the Ox-Bow artist residency lives on.

August 26, 2017

The Art of Empathy

On and off-campus, SAIC alumni, students, and faculty delve into what it means to feel.

August 23, 2017

From the President

SAIC President Elissa Tenny reflects on the role of the citizen artist and what role artists, designers, and scholars can play in shaping the world we live in.

August 25, 2017

Our Kind of Town

For more than a century, SAIC has possessed an ethos of civic engagement that compels its artists, designers, scholars, and educators to create work that extends beyond the studios and classrooms and into the diverse communities of Chicago and beyond. 

August 24, 2017

Where I Work

Artist and educator Valerie Xanos' (BFA 1991, MFA 2018) classroom at Curie High School, a Chicago Public School on the city's South Side strikes a balance between structure and flexibility. Through her guerrilla art approach in the classroom, she empowers students and cultivates a space where they can truly express themselves.

August 23, 2017

Street Style

Students in SAIC’s Department of Fashion, Body and Garment presented their year-end collections on May 5 to a standing-room-only crowd of some of the finest dressed spectators in all of Chicago, including Chicago-based fashion designer and SAIC alum Maria Pinto (BFA 1990, HON 2017). Here are our editors’ picks of some of the best street style on display at the runway show and exhibition.

August 23, 2017

On View

Anida Yoeu Ali (MFA 2010), Aram Han Sifuentes (MFA 2013), Jan Tichy (MFA 2009), and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1997, HON 2011) are four SAIC artists who engage with civic and social issues to make a positive impact on their community and the world. 

August 24, 2017

The Process

Through researching microscopic particles and making frames out of interwoven 3D images, Ellen Sandor (MFA 1975, HON 2014) has found the point where photography, holography, and sculpture meet.

August 24, 2017

Field Trip

The yearlong Milan External Partnerships class allows AIADO students to hone their craft here in Chicago, designing and producing a complete collection that eventually debuts at the prestigious Spazio Rossana Orlandi gallery during Milan Design Week.

August 23, 2017

Q&A with Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011)

Q&A with distinguished alumni lecturer, visiting artist, and alum Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011), whose work reveals stories often excluded in history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and the ill, marginalized beings, and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons. On September 16, he returns to SAIC for the US premiere of his exhibition, The Serenity of Madness.

August 24, 2017

Art Scene

Critiques, exhibits, galas, fashion shows, Commencement—the School never sleeps.

August 25, 2017

Why I Give

Jeff Koons (SAIC 1975–76, HON 2008) remembers studying under influential Chicago Imagist, Ed Paschke (BFA 1961, MFA 1970, HON 1990) at SAIC. For Koons, studying at SAIC and working as Paschke's assistant was a transformative experience, and he used that education to become the internationally known artist he is today. 

August 24, 2017

My Obsessions

SAIC alum, artist, and writer Emil Ferris (BFA 2008, MFA 2010) has published a monstrous graphic novel. We talked to her to find out what she is reading, listening to, watching, and thinking about.

August 22, 2017

Career Conversations

Here is an excerpt from our recent conversation with Saya Woolfalk (MFA 2004), a multimedia artist and current instructor at The New School for Design, and her advice to current SAIC students and recent graduates. 

August 23, 2017

From the Archives

A look at Margaret T. Burroughs' role in inspiring and educating young people on Black culture.

August 22, 2017

Class Notes

A look at the accomplishments of SAIC alumni.

August 22, 2017

From Law to Letterpress

A Continuing Studies course inspires Violet O’Brien to trade her legal career for creative entrepreneurship.