Text by CLOT Magazine
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is committed to embracing new technologies to expand the possibilities of existing artistic processes and engage with them critically. At SAIC, students have the unique opportunity to pioneer future-facing works in a dynamic learning environment.
With a legacy of over 50 years in technological and sonic arts experimentation, their department stands out in its focus, history, and depth. SAIC’s ever-evolving range of courses is designed to provide students with an immersive, thorough, and critically engaged course of study from a global perspective, connecting them to the international art community.
This global perspective is a key feature of their curriculum. It allows students to explore a wide-ranging interdisciplinary path or take a focused approach to specific media, disciplines, or topics in the AT/SP ecosystem, fostering rigorous experimentation, skills-based learning, and conceptual investigation to prepare students to be creative and productive cultural citizens. Graduates of the program are well-prepared for careers in various fields, including fine arts, media arts, sound design, and technology-based art practices.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is one of the USA’s oldest accredited independent art and design schools. It was founded as the Chicago Academy of Design in 1866 and has since provided its students with a challenging education in the studio arts and exhibition opportunities.
Students have access to a wealth of digital and analog resources, purpose-built labs and studios, and expert support staff. These facilitate a wide range of practices, including creative coding, sound art, olfactory art, bio art, experimental music, acoustic ecology, installation, performance, AR, VR, games, kinetics, neon, holography, electronics, and more. This DIY and hacking philosophy is embodied throughout the curriculum, and works produced are often interactive, immersive, multisensory or hybrids of retro and cutting-edge technologies.
SAIC offers a priority application deadline of December 1 with a reduced application fee. The final application deadline is January 10, 2025. Learn more and apply at saic.edu/atsp.
