SAIC (Chicago Art Institute)
Studying as an undergraduate at SAIC is an experience unlike any other. It’s immersive. It’s challenging. It’s mind-opening. It can be messy. It’s also the best preparation you can have for life after graduation. That’s because SAIC has designed a unique education rooted in experimentation that develops creative people into resilient, adaptable problem solvers and critical thinkers who can ride the wave of the future.
Undergraduate study at SAIC is a carefully designed system of interconnected parts that work together to build on your passion for art and design. Each component of your program helps you discover your voice and develop a practice that engages with the world beyond the studio.
Freedom to Explore
Structure and Support
Critique-based Assessment
Career Development
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In Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects, our studios have no boundaries: we are creative across disciplines and engaged with our community at SAIC, our context in Chicago, and the world. Our dedicated faculty teach from diverse experience in practices that impact public life and drive public culture. We value the craft that brings ideas into the world, the research that informs criticality, and the compelling stories we tell to share our work.
Our students are exploring the future of how we live, work, and communicate; asking how design responds to shifting modes of belonging; and ensuring design will address the transcendent challenge of a changing climate.
Borrowing critically from product design, systems design, furniture design, and interaction design, the Designed Objects Pathway focuses on the critical and creative rethinking of the systems, tools, furnishings, and products that we use or interact with in our everyday lives.
Investigations into how objects extend human potential and inspire imagination are balanced with studies in the responsible and imaginative use of new technologies, materials, and production processes. A concern for sustainability provides an opportunity to explore alternative visions of how we live, work, communicate, and play.
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Students come to the Art Education department to gain the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to manifest their deeply felt vocations as artists and educators, to enhance their own creative potentials, and to collaboratively build resilient, creative, democratic communities.
The Art Education programs are uniquely situated within the vital and diverse cultural and artistic communities of Chicago, providing a wealth of experiences and opportunities for mentorship in museums, schools, and community settings.
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The Department of Visual Communication Design encourages students to actively engage their world and define their role as contributing designers by developing their critical and analytical skills, personal voice, and visual language. The department cultivates a sense of social responsibility and inquiry in student designers who will be working at the intersection of art, design, and mass culture.
Our diverse course offerings include both physical and virtual design areas:
Artists' books design
Book design
Environmental graphics
Exhibition design
Font /typography Design
Information design
Interaction design/interface design
Identity design/strategic design
Illustration/imagery design
Letterpress printing and bookbinding
Motion graphics design
Offset printing/digital printing
Packaging design
Poster design
Publication design
Sustainable design
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We award merit scholarships to new students based on a holistic review of their application materials, including the portfolio, test scores, artist's statement, academic records, and letter of recommendation. Merit scholarships are annually renewed as long as students maintain successful academic standing. Scholarships are financial awards that do not need to be repaid.
First Year Scholars Program
Awarded based on HS Academics, Portfolio, and Artist Statement. 40 of ~2800 incoming Freshmen (top 1%), awarded at least full tuition merit.