Department of Exhibitions / Exhibition Studies

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago recognizes exhibition opportunities and public programming as an essential component of the educational experience of its students. Its Department of Exhibitions / Exhibition Studies serves to enrich and augment the academic curriculum through active discourse on issues and ideas in contemporary art.

Exhibitions are a primary forum for exchange: where the artist’s efforts meet an audience and, some would posit, where the work of art is completed. Exhibitions drive much of the art world. Even when artists find new, alternative, and avant-garde modes of presentation and making art, they often butt up against the edges of exhibition practice. Within the greater SAIC environment, exhibitions are undertaken not only within, but outside of our on-campus exhibition locations--around Chicago and in sites around the world. Exhibitions are learning opportunities, offering a tangible framework for students to imagine and see what they and others do--a place to experiment with ideas, and to deepen their understanding of their own art making as well as what arts does.

Exhibitions offer ways of thinking and seeing, as we ask: how can shows cultivate and sustain an artist’s practice? How are they occasions for presenting work made in the studio or making new art? How are shows organized? And more...

The Department of Exhibitions / Exhibition Studies coordinates programming in two campus spaces, the Sullivan Galleries and Rymer Gallery. In addition, the department hosts symposia, lectures, commissioned artists projects, performances, and screenings that occur both in Chicago and in other sites both nationally and internationally. For more information on current programming, visit www.saic.edu/exhibitions.

Exhibitions and Events Policy
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago retains the right to determine when, if, how long, and where artwork will be displayed for any School exhibition. The School retains the right to relocate or to remove any work from exhibition that may be in violation of the law, that may be hazardous to the health and/or safety of viewers or participants, or that may be disruptive to the educational process. All exhibitions, film screenings, performances, video presentations, lectures, or symposia, whether inside the School buildings or outside the School, must be approved by the Exhibitions Committee if the name of the School is to be involved and if the public will be viewing the exhibition/event (contact tmartin@saic.edu). The School of the Art Institute of Chicago supports the exhibition of student work as an integral component of a fine arts education and does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, color, creed, national origin, race, sex, or sexual orientation in its exhibition practices.

Sullivan Galleries, 33 S. State Street, 7th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603
CONTACT: Department of Exhibitions / Exhibition Studies
312.629.6635
exhibitions-saic@saic.edu | www.saic.edu/exhibitions