Undergraduate Overview

This course offers students the opportunity to explore printmedia as a viable contemporary practice. Students will examine the formal qualities of the printed mark as well as issues of multiplicity, replication, and dissemination inherent to the medium. To aid student understanding, this course will balance discussions of relevant artists and thinkers with a range of technical and conceptual approaches. Students will engage in two processes which may include screenprinting, plate lithography, relief printmaking, intaglio, and book arts depending on the faculty. Students will learn additional print techniques like stencils, monoprints, and participate in a Risography print exchange, in conjunction with concepts germane to this diverse and historically significant area of creative production. Guided by assigned readings, presentations, assignments and group critiques students will develop a body of work in dialogue with contemporary printmedia.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore printmedia as a viable contemporary practice. Students will examine the formal qualities of the printed mark as well as issues of multiplicity, replication, and dissemination inherent to the medium. To aid student understanding, this course will balance discussions of relevant artists and thinkers with a range of technical and conceptual approaches. Students will engage in two processes which may include screenprinting, plate lithography, relief printmaking, intaglio, and book arts depending on the faculty. Students will learn additional print techniques like stencils, monoprints, and participate in a Risography print exchange, in conjunction with concepts germane to this diverse and historically significant area of creative production. Guided by assigned readings, presentations, assignments and group critiques students will develop a body of work in dialogue with contemporary printmedia.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore printmedia as a viable contemporary practice. Students will examine the formal qualities of the printed mark as well as issues of multiplicity, replication, and dissemination inherent to the medium. To aid student understanding, this course will balance discussions of relevant artists and thinkers with a range of technical and conceptual approaches. Students will engage in two processes which may include screenprinting, plate lithography, relief printmaking, intaglio, and book arts depending on the faculty. Students will learn additional print techniques like stencils, monoprints, and participate in a Risography print exchange, in conjunction with concepts germane to this diverse and historically significant area of creative production. Guided by assigned readings, presentations, assignments and group critiques students will develop a body of work in dialogue with contemporary printmedia.

Students are introduced to basic intaglio methods such as drypoint, etching, soft ground, aquatint, chine colle, multi-plate printing, and color ink techniques. Use of specific tools and papers is an essential part of the course. Through examples, discussion, and demonstrations students will learn to identify and select methods that suit their expressive needs and concepts.

Students are introduced to lithography through an exploration of stone lithography¿s characteristic dynamic range of direct drawn, painterly and graphic possibilities for image development. Emphasis is placed on gaining a thorough understanding of lithographic principles and printing processes. Class demonstrations and critiques are supported by consideration and discussion of contemporary and historic examples and a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago¿s print study room

Students learn traditional and experimental approaches to relief printmaking. Techniques covered are woodcut, linocut, wood engraving, relief etching, monoprints, and other press and hand-printing relief processes.

In this course, students acquire technical proficiency in the various stencil printing methods. Individual exploration and development in the medium is encouraged and supported by individual instruction and group critiques.

Artists' Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists' books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists' books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists' books.

Artists' Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists' books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists' books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists' books.

Instead of art making that leads to one image or object, often contemporary artists arrange groups of images to create large scale installations. The viewer¿s body must navigate through the installation of images to experience the work. In this class, students will investigate the use of printed multiples and repetition, serial and iterative methods, a variety of layering techniques, collaboration, and print¿s social potential through image dissemination and public display. Students will learn how to think and make in groups of images, with a focus on both exhibition based and site-specific print installations.

Students will be exposed to a wide variety of multi-disciplinary artists working within print installation or influenced by printmaking structures including Hanne Darboven, Jennifer Bartlett, Geta Br¿tescu, William Pope.L, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Jenny Holzer, Wade Guyton, Charline von Heyl, Fischli and Weiss, Dieter Roth, Es Devlin, Kara Walker, Ed Ruscha, Allen Ruppersberg, Sarah Charlesworth, Jitish Kallat, Vija Celmins, Raymond Pettibon, James Turrell, Martin Puryear, Daniel Garcia Andujar, and Felix Gonzales Torres. Additionally, because time becomes a major factor when viewing print installations in space, this class will also explore temporal disciplines including video art, fashion, dance, and music.

Students will learn printmaking processes including relief printing, monotypes, digital process, and transfer techniques. The class will culminate in a final project where each student will make a personal print installation using the multiples they created. Elements of this installation will be completed in real space, in addition to a mock print installation displayed through architectural drawings and prints, 3D modeling computer programs (using the Adobe Suite and Google Sketch Up), and scaled sculptural models.

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers strategies for students to explore, reflect upon, and connect common themes and interests in the development of an emerging creative practice that will serve as the basis of their ongoing studies at SAIC and beyond. Students will examine historical and contemporary influences and contextualize their work in relation to the diverse art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary each semester. Presentations by visiting artists and guest speakers will provide the opportunity for students to hear unique perspectives on sustaining a creative practice. One-on-one meetings with faculty will provide students with individualized mentorship throughout the semester. During interdisciplinary critiques, students will explore a variety of formats and tools to analyze work and provide peer feedback. The class mid-term project asks students to imagine a plan for their creative life and devise a self-directed course of study for their time at school. The course concludes with an assignment asking students to develop and document a project or body of work demonstrating how the interplay of ideas, technical skills, and formal concerns evolve through iteration, experimentation and revision.

Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll.

This class introduces students to the concepts and production of distributable artists' objects. Working closely with faculty, students will develop projects to be printed on the Heidelberg offset press. Utilizing this high-volume printing process, students¿ potential outcomes may include but are not limited to prints, books, zines, posters, stickers, cards, and packaging. Image creation methods include digital, photo, collage, and hand-drawing. Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of binding and packaging techniques will be demonstrated.
Through hands-on examples, readings, discussions, and visits to special collections, such as the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, students will acquire knowledge of a wide range of historical and contemporary artworks made in multiple. Students will apply this knowledge and their new technical skills to inform their planning and execution of printing and publishing projects.
Over the semester, students can expect to complete 3-6 multi-color offset projects and participate in two critiques.

Students develop intaglio techniques at an intermediate and advanced level. Demonstrated techniques include drypoint, etching, engraving, aquatint, sugarlift, spitbite, whiteground, softground, multi-plate printing, photographic and digital image making, as well as a variety of experimental approaches to plate making and printing. Skills taught in this course build on those acquired in beginning etching, and students will expand upon previous projects and develop new approaches to exploring content and understanding intaglio techniques.

This intermediate-advanced studio develops students' creative practice in print through an engagement with plate lithography's wide range of image-making possibilities. Students gain a comprehensive introduction to printing with aluminum plates, including color and multi-layer printing, with an emphasis on individual experimentation and the ways lithography can extend studio interests within a personal practice. The course is designed for students who wish to build on their lithography skills, as well as those without prior experience who want to expand a portfolio rooted in other printmedia areas, such as screen, relief, etching, or offset.
The first half of the semester builds technical skills through demonstrations and two assigned projects focused on multilayer and color printing on aluminum plates. In the second half, students develop self-directed projects from a short written proposal, with the option to propose a stone project for those with prior stone experience.
Demonstrations and discussions cover plate-based techniques, including hand-drawn, digital, and photo-based methods, layering, multi-color printing, advanced registration, CMYK, duotone, alternative plates (such as pronto plates), and the production of editions, multiples, and alternative formats.
Examples of contemporary and historical lithographs, short readings, and a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Collection support discussion and project development. Students can expect to complete three to five finished pieces and participate in two critiques.

Advanced exploration is encouraged in the screenprinting medium. Emphasis is placed on individual experimentation, development and the refinement of technical skills. Processes offered include large format printing, 4-color separation, and other advanced traditional photographic and digital techniques.
In this intermediate and advanced screenprinting class, students will further explore the use of screenprinting techniques in order to strengthen their studio practice. Processes explored may include hand stencil techniques, stencil blockout progressions, light sensitive stencils with hand-drawn and photo-based imagery, spot and process coloring, color registration, and alternative surface techniques. Students will also be exposed to historical examples of the applications of screenprinting through the Prints and Drawings Study Room at AIC and/or the Joan Flasch Artists Books Collection. Because this is a 3000 level course, students should already have a working knowledge of screenprinting techniques.

This course will engage the artists' book through the lens of the everyday. Students will explore book forms using traditional techniques in combination with emerging technologies, as well as more experimental approaches ranging from found materials to metalworking. We will pursue numerous conditions, contemporary strategies and histories surrounding the book as an everyday object. Students will investigate the parameters of the unbound book through sequence and storytelling through space, ideas of parody/homage, palimpsests and redactions, toolkits, reliquaries, the multiple, mass production, self-publishing, appropriation, and more.

Advanced Artists' Books is an intermediate to advanced course for students with prior experience in bookmaking who are ready to deepen their technical skills and conceptual approaches. The class emphasizes integrating visual and written materials across sequential pages while exploring advanced binding techniques and experimental structures. Students will be challenged to pursue complex, personalized projects that require critical thinking, risk-taking, and creative use of materials. Alongside technical development, the course highlights analysis of contemporary practices in book arts and encourages students to expand their understanding of how book forms function as both artistic objects and modes of communication. Midway through the semester, students will participate in a group exhibition at the Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection (JFABC), providing a professional platform for showcasing their work.

This interdisciplinary studio class investigates the intersection of printmedia, artists¿ multiples and packaging as an entry point into making and thinking about multiples as a format for studio production. The history of artists¿ multiples (loosely defined as small-scale editioned or multiply produced three-dimensional works) includes many examples that use, or appropriate, printed elements and packaging in some way. This history, along with our daily experience of packaging (the many boxes, folders, labels, pamphlets, flyers and cartons found in nearly every aspect of contemporary life) offers a wealth of connections to consider and work from.
Students will be introduced to a range of printing and paper construction techniques within the Printmedia studio. These include hand-drawn and digital plate lithography, pattern layout and construction for packaging along with other selected tools and techniques.
In addition, students will have the opportunity to use SAIC labs such as the Service Bureau and digital fabrication centers. Examples of multiples, short readings, and a visit to the Joan Flasch or other related collections will support project development and discussion.
Students can expect to complete three to four projects and participate in two critiques.

Sensitivity & Exposure explores the intersection of photography and printmaking through processes activated by pressure and light. Students develop technical skills while approaching print as a site-responsive medium¿sensitive to contact, light, time, material, and context.
Beginning with embossing and frottage, students consider pressure as a means of recording the scale, texture, and topography of objects, surfaces, and sites. These direct forms of contact introduce questions of indexicality and documentation that carry into cyanotype and gelatin silver printing, where photosensitive materials replace physical pressure as a means of registering objects, surfaces, duration, and space. Building on these analogue processes, students use digital fabrication to translate photographic images into laser-engraved linoleum blocks and photogravure plates, extending questions of exposure and reproduction into relief and intaglio printing.
Historical and contemporary artists provide critical frameworks for considering how these techniques developed and how their material and conceptual possibilities matter today. Jennifer L. Roberts¿s Contact: Art and the Pull of Print provides a key framework for examining contact, transfer, pressure, reversal, and reproduction across photography and printmaking.
The course combines demonstrations, studio experimentation, projects, readings, discussions, and critiques. The summer session is offered as an intensive, lab-based version focused on two processes: cyanotype and photogravure.

In the last twenty years, the Risograph machine has become a powerful tool in the hands of artists and self-publishers. Students in this course will learn advanced methods of printing, spot color layering and color-separation along with becoming immersed in the rich global culture of RIsograph printing and publishing.
The class will consist of demonstrations, lectures and presentations on current Risograph practitioners, visits with artists and publishers, trips to school collections and the prodigious production of strange and beautiful printed objects. Lectures and readings may include the work of artists Sigrid Calon, Lale Westvind, Joe Kessler, and the publishers Colorama, Perfectly Acceptable, Colour Code, The Charles Nypels Lab, Animal Press, Tan and Loose, and others.

Students will acquire knowledge of the vibrant world of Risograph-printed art and skills in Risograph machine operation, color separation, publishing software such as Adobe Illustrator and Spectorlite, along with the operation binding and finishing equipment. Students will apply this knowledge of the context of Risograph printing and publishing to inform their planning and execution of their own sophisticated printed multiples.

Students will be expected to produce 3-4 projects demonstrating technical proficiency and contextual grounding. These projects will be refined during regular one-on-one meetings and discussed in three group critiques. The course will culminate in a show of student work.