CHICAGO—The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), a global leader in art and design education, announced two gifts totaling $1 million in support of part-time faculty. The gifts come from Karen and Jim Frank and Todd and Liz Warnock.
Karen and Jim Frank have committed $500,000 to establish the Karen and Jim Frank Excellence in Teaching Fund. This fund will support an annual award for outstanding part-time faculty recommended by a dean’s selection committee. Karen, who studied fashion design at SAIC, is a Life Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago and a member of the School’s Board of Governors. A prior major gift from the Franks allowed the School to renovate and thoroughly update its photography studios.
“My experience as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago was defined and enriched by my interactions with my professors,” said Karen Frank. “Jim and I are honored to be able to give faculty members the resources they need to continue to shape the next generation of artists, designers and scholars.”
Todd and Liz Warnock have committed $500,000 to establish an excellence in teaching fund. Todd is a former student at SAIC, an emeritus member of its Board of Governors, and a former Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and Liz have elected to name the fund after one of Todd’s faculty mentors, Marion Kryczka (BFA 1970), a talented artist and adjunct associate professor in the Painting and Drawing department since 1981. Like the fund endowed by Karen and Jim Frank, the Marion Kryczka Excellence in Teaching Fund will support an annual award for outstanding part-time faculty recommended by the dean's selection committee.
“As a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I was able to connect with my professors, especially Marion Kryczka, in a way that truly transformed my life and career,” said Todd Warnock. “Liz and I are so proud to be able to help recognize the magic, the spark, the tremendous personal growth and confidence that comes to a student when engaged with a brilliant teacher.”
Faculty are at the core of any world-class institution, and the gifts will allow SAIC to reward exceptional part-time faculty and provide a way for the School to advance its commitment to rigor and creativity in its approaches to teaching and learning at the part-time level.
“The importance of the relationship between an institution’s faculty and its students cannot be overstated, and we are proud to have some of the most talented artists and designers in the world serving as mentors to our students,” said Walter Massey, president of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “We are so thankful for the generous gifts from Karen and Jim Frank and Todd and Liz Warnock which will help ensure faculty members have the resources they need to allow our students to grow personally and creatively.”
About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked No. 2 by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman. For more information, please visit saic.edu.
