| Summer Institute: Sculpture: Flat to Form |
Early College Program Summer Institute |
404 (001) |
Summer 2026 |
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Description
Learn how to give form and shape to flat materials. Experiment with materials including fabric, cardboard, paper, wire, plaster, and plastic, while referencing the work of artists including Amanda Browder, Taylor Hokanson, Anila Quayyum Agha, Claes Oldenburg, and Martin Puryear. Projects include representational and abstract approaches, challenging students to think critically about form, structure, and the viewer¿s experience. Field trips, artist talks, and critiques deepen understanding of how scale, dimension, and balance give sculpture its voice. Visits to the Art Institute of Chicago allow students to study iconic works up close and connect classroom learning to world-renowned collections. Performances and artwork that are temporary or that cannot be easily transported will be documented through photography and/or video.
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Class Number
1263
Credits
2
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| Core Studio Practice I |
Contemporary Practices |
1010 (004) |
Fall 2026 |
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Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1369
Credits
3
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| Core Studio Practice II |
Contemporary Practices |
1011 (002) |
Spring 2026 |
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Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1230
Credits
3
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| Core Studio Practice II |
Contemporary Practices |
1011 (016) |
Spring 2026 |
|
Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1244
Credits
3
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| Research Studio I |
Contemporary Practices |
1020 (018) |
Fall 2026 |
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Description
This studio course focuses on themes, practices, contexts, and questions undertaken by contemporary artists and designers. Research Studio I is a course that asks students to begin to develop and connect their own work and ideas with a diverse range of artists, designers, and communities. This course engages with cultural institutions including: museums, galleries, libraries and archives as resources of critical engagement.
Students will undertake various types of research activities: a) collecting and classification, b) mapping and diagramming, c) systems of measurement, d) social interaction, e) information search systems, f) recording and representation, and g) drawing and other notational systems.
Assignments in this course are faculty directed, open-media, interdisciplinary and idea based. The projects are designed to help students recognize their work habits, biases, strengths, and weaknesses. Students will experience a wide range of research methods and making strategies. Critique as an evaluative process used in art and design schools, is a focus in this course. Various methods and models of critique are used in order to give students the tools to discuss their own work and the work of others.
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Class Number
1406
Credits
3
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| RS: Artist/Curator: One Thing is Next to the Other |
Contemporary Practices |
1022 (007) |
Spring 2026 |
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Description
In this course we will focus on the dynamic relationships between objects, audience, spaces, and the city itself. Our focus is on the interplay of art within its surroundings, exploring site-specificity and the expansive range of public and private art. By examining these concepts, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how art shapes and is shaped by the environments it inhabits. Readings, guest lecturers, tours and screenings will vary and will be responsive to students' needs, starting with a core set of Nina Katchadourian,Francis Alys, David Hammons, Susan Stewart, Duchamp and any of my curator friends I can get to join us. This is a class for people who get excited engaging in critical discourse and are ready to push boundaries.
There will be shorter assignments (readings, curatorial games, proposals and the such) up until midterm preparing students for the final project where you will research, direct and curate a show at the school.
Art exists now and has always existed in a landscape far beyond the gallery walls. We will look at everything from your pocket to international art fairs.
Curation is an act of care taking and we will look at it as a way of seeing, being and engaging.
Throughout the semester we will step into both worlds of artist and curator and by the end of the semester your footing, your practice will be strengthened through it.
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Class Number
1190
Credits
3
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| CAPX Internship |
Career and Professional Experience |
4001 (007) |
Summer 2026 |
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Description
This course is designed to provide students an opportunity to gain experience as interns in professional arts and design environments and prepare for professional life after SAIC. During the semester, faculty provide in-depth mentorship and act as liaison with the internship site supporting students meet their learning goals as outlined for the semester. Through group meetings and online discussions, students engage with a peer cohort of students participating in a variety of internships. Students work on-site at internships for a total of 140 hours (approx 14 hours per week) for the term. In addition to successfully completing the internship, students will conduct an informational interview with their employer, attend 4 class meetings and an onsite meeting with the faculty and supervisor, complete an internship supervisor evaluation, revise their resume, and update their online portfolio, website, or professional profile.
Students are required to secure an internship prior to the start of the semester. Internships must be approved by the Career and Professional Experience (CAPX) office. Students are encouraged to meet with a CAPX advisor for assistance with researching and applying for internships. In order to begin the internship approval process students should go to https://bit.ly/35vmTTM. Upon approval, course registration is managed by CAPX.
Note that international students must receive CPT authorization prior to participating in an off-campus internship.
Internships may be in-person, hybrid, or virtual; however all four class meetings are virtual. Class meeting day and time are determined by the faculty.
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Class Number
1157
Credits
1.5 - 3
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| UGRD: Senior Critique Seminar |
Undergraduate Studies |
4920 (003) |
Spring 2026 |
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Description
This interdisciplinary critique seminar is designed to help students recognize patterns of inquiry within their studio work while proceeding toward an outward-facing practice beyond graduation. An assessment of previous projects will be the starting point for an ongoing critical examination of your creative practice, through which you will be asked to contextualize and position your work in the art-worlds of the 21st Century. This course is a forum for in-depth individual and group critiques with technical and conceptual discussions tailored to your practice and research. In addition to various readings, screenings, and field trips, class visits by local artists and curators will provide the opportunity for conversation about the lived experience of sustaining a creative practice. With an emphasis on faculty mentorship, class meetings will support the development of a focused, self-initiated Senior Project, a strong portfolio, and the tools for maintaining an independent studio practice.
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Class Number
1158
Credits
3
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