A Season of Renewal at SAIC

At Commencement on May 22, we celebrated not only the class of 2022 but also recent graduates from the classes of 2020 and 2021 who couldn’t have an in-person ceremony due to the pandemic. It was an optimistic day. As we reflect on the end of the 2022 school year, we’re thrilled to revisit the accomplishments of the SAIC community. You can find some of those recent achievements below.

Professor Nick Cave’s First Career Retrospective Opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Stephanie and Bill Sick Professor of Fashion, Body and Garment Nick Cave’s first career retrospective—Nick Cave: Forothermore—is now open at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. SAIC talked to Cave about the meaning of this career milestone, the light it’s shed on his practice, and why he continues to teach at the School. read more

SAIC Receives $2.75 Million in Support of Student-Centered Initiatives

Over the past several months, SAIC has received generous donations in honor of Make Way: A Roadmap for Student Access, Equity, and Affordability, President Tenny’s initiative to give students the tools they need before, during, and after college. This includes a $1 million gift from Anita and Prabhakant Sinha to support first-generation students, a $1 million gift to support SAIC’s Disability and Learning Resource Center from an anonymous donor, and $750,000 from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation for SAIC’s College Arts Access Program. 

Six Alums and Faculty Awarded Prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the Guggenheim Fellows for 2022, which included Associate Professor Maria Gaspar; Jessica J. Hutchins (Post-Bac 1997, MFA 1999); Angelo Madsen Minax (BFA 2005); Lorie Novak (MFA 1979); Guadalupe Rosales (MFA 2016); and Interim Dean of Faculty, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor Shawn Michelle Smith. read more

Alum Richard Hunt to Produce First Artwork for the Obama Center

Sculptor and alum Richard Hunt (BA 1957, HON 1979) is the first artist commissioned by the Obama Foundation to create a piece for the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side. “To have one of the greatest artists Chicago ever produced, participate in what we hope is an important cultural institution for the city in the South Side–it feels like a pretty good fit to me,” President Obama shared. read more

SAIC Community Members Receive Renowned American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards

Professor Candida Alvarez and alum Martine Syms (BFA 2007) are among 15 artists who will receive awards in art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies. Alvarez received one of five Arts and Letters Awards in Art, which includes a $10,000 prize to honor accomplishments and encourage work; Syms received an Art Purchase Prize meant to place the work of living artists in museums across the US. read more

The Whitney Biennial Exhibits the Work of Seven Alums

SAIC alums Lisa Alvarado (BFA 2007), Emily Barker (SAIC 2010–15), Rodney McMillian (Post-Bac 2000), Na Mira (BFA 2006), Guadalupe Rosales (MFA 2016), and collective Moved by the Motion founded by Wu Tsang (BFA 2004) and Tosh Basco (MFA 2018) are a part of this year’s Whitney Biennial: Quiet as It’s Kept. The Whitney Museum of American Art has held the Biennial since 1932, making it the longest running survey of American art. read more

The New York Times Spotlights Groundbreaking Work of Alum Jennie C. Jones

Jennie C. Jones (BFA 1991) was recently profiled by the New York Times in a piece that highlights her creative practice, which incorporates the use of acoustic panels in abstract painting. Inspired by punk rock, the history of Modernism, and Black sonic avant-garde, Jones creates works that explore the relationship between hearing and seeing in shows like Dynamics, her solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. read more

Student Maurício Chades Receives a Frankenthaler Climate Art Award

Student Maurício Chades (MFA 2022) was selected as one of the three recipients of the Frankenthaler Climate Art Award for his video essay Pyramid, Urubu (2019). Awarded by the Asia Society and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, the award is given to recent graduates or current masters of fine art students “to encourage action on climate change amongst the next generation of visual artists.” Each recipient will receive $15,000 along with their award. read more ■

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