School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) provides a leading global vision for the education of artists, designers, and others who shape contemporary art practice. SAIC’s primary purpose is to foster the conceptual and technical education of artists, designers, and scholars in a highly professional, studio-oriented, and academically rigorous environment, encouraging excellence, critical inquiry, and experimentation. SAIC is committed to interdisciplinary exploration, and students are encouraged to think creatively and to develop the self-motivation necessary for life as a practicing artist, designer, and scholar in the twenty-first century. SAIC enriches its strong studio program with a first-rate, nationally and regionally accredited liberal arts education, and has one of the largest art history departments in the nation. SAIC is located in the heart of downtown Chicago, home to the nation’s second-largest art scene that includes world-class museums, galleries, alternative spaces, and arts organizations. Chicago itself is a vital part of SAIC, as a source of social and cultural activities and the stimulus for ideas and attitudes ultimately expressed through art. Peter Frank, art critic and curator says, ‘Of all American cities, Chicago has contributed the most solid and distinctive artwork and art thinking. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is at the nucleus of this longstanding distinction.’