Artists, designers, and scholars like you have the ability to shape our visual landscape.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Early College Program (ECP) invites you to join us at the nation’s most influential art and design school this summer.
With us, you can expand your current interests and discover the amazing things that happen when you are surrounded by a creative community that helps you develop not only technical skills but the meaning behind the work you create.
WHY SAIC’S EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAM?
• Ideas Matter Here — with us you have the freedom to explore new ideas that push boundaries.
• ECP Faculty — professional artists, designers, and scholars who are passionate mentors.
• Access to our Art Institute of Chicago Museum — the world’s third largest art museum, recently voted the best museum in the world by TripAdvisor.
• Preparation — the skills you learn will help you in the classroom and as you start a portfolio of work should you be interested in pursuing art and design at the college level.
STRENGTHEN YOUR COMMITMENT TO ART AND DESIGN
Early College Program (ECP) students are taught to think and create in a new world of visual communication and ever-changing technology, providing you with the creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills that prepare you to build an enriching life for yourself.
Session 1:
ANIMATION AND VIDEO
Animation Studio
Session 1, #1137, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Explore traditional and digital animation techniques, such as frame-by-frame, stop-motion, and more.
Students complete several projects that focus on communicating ideas through motion studies, character/environment development, storytelling, and other cinematic devices such as composition, set creation, and props.
Moving Images: Video Production
Session 2, #1136, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
This course serves as a foundation for students interested in video production, motion graphics, and animation.
Students may work with traditional processes such as sketchbooking alongside digital applications such as Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere.
DRAWING AND ILLUSTRATION
Digital Drawing and Illustration
Session 1, #1138, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Session 3, #1139, M-F, 9-12, In-Person
Begin with traditional media and processes and then translate your ideas digitally in programs such as Procreate and Adobe Illustrator. Presentations will feature work by contemporary illustrators who are pushing the field of illustration forward using new approaches to mark-making.
Drawing Studio
Session 1, #1124, M-F, 9-4, Online
Session 2, #1125, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Session 3, #1126, M-F, 9-12, In-Person
Express yourself through drawing and learn a variety of techniques and approaches to build your technical, spatial, and creative abilities. Working with a range of materials, investigate contemporary subjects and themes through skills such as line, perspective, tone, proportion, composition, value, gesture, and contour. All levels are welcome.
Figure Drawing
Session 1, #1128, M-F, 9-4, In-Person Session 3, #1129, M-F, 9-12, In-Person Session 4, #1127, M-F, 1-4, In-Person
Working from the nude model, you will learn how to draw the human form from direct observation and gain skills in representing proportion, volume, composition, gesture, and the accurate and expressive use of line and tone.
FASHION
Architecture: Design & Drawing
Session 3, #1123, M-F, 1-4, Online
Learn basic architectural drawing, perspective, drafting techniques, and 3D modeling. You will create a final piece that may include prints and drawings, 3D physical models, and much more. No experience is necessary.
Comics and Graphic Novels
Session 3, #1130, M-F, 1-4, In-Person
Learn how to tell engaging stories and investigate character development, plot structure, scripting, and storyboarding. Explore penciling, inking, coloring, space, and perspective through the use of a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional media, which may include colored pencils, oil pastels, watercolors, and handmade zines. All levels are welcome.
Fashion Construction
Session 1, #1131, M-F, 9-4, In-Person Session 3, #1132, M-F, 9-12, In-Person Session 4, #1133, M-F, 9-12, In-Person
You will be designing, constructing, and sewing your own garments from start to finish utilizing a wide variety of materials such as paper, muslin, secondhand clothing, and fabric off the bolt. No experience is necessary.
Fashion Illustration
Session 2, #1134, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Session 4, #1135, M-F, 1-4, In-Person
Develop drawing skills and fashion illustration techniques with an emphasis on individual style and expression, inspired by live and clothed models and garments from SAIC’s Fashion Resource Center. Previous drawing experience is helpful but not necessary.
SCULPTURE
From Drawing to Painting
Session 2, #1144, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Transition from drawing to acquiring painting skills such as line, volume, space, materiality, form and function, and palette using a variety of traditional and contemporary materials. This course is recommended for both beginners and those wanting to improve and develop their current abilities.
Oil Painting
Session 3, #1140, M-F, 1-4, In-Person
Session 4, #1141, M-F, 9-12, In-Person
Learn to stretch a canvas, lay out a palette, apply paint, and mix color. Develop color theory, composition, structure, proportion, and perspective skills through observational painting, and complete exercises that encourage you to find your own direction and style.
Water-Based Painting
Session 1, #1142, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Session 2, #1143, M-F, 9-4, In-Person
Explore traditional and nontraditional materials and methods used in water-based painting. Working from a variety of subjects, you may use ink, acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media while building skills in color, tone, volume, contrast, and temperature.
Eco Sculpture: Social Practice Art Studio, NEW!
This new course is designed in partnership with Knowledge Lab, the SAIC sculpture department’s “living laboratory” with an innovative, green, and sustainable focus.
Session 4, #1146, M-F, 1-4,
In-Person
This course guides students through the process of creating ecologically-engaged art in a variety of media, from initial inspiration, artistic research, material exploration, construction, and installation/presentation. Emphasis will be placed on working with and responding to the natural world, with the SAIC Sculpture Department’s Knowledge Lab as our base. Plant tending and harvesting in the K-Lab Garden, foraging walks around downtown, and trips to nearby art and ecological spaces will provide inspiration.
Drawing Studio 9-12 #1126
Fashion Construction 9-12 #1132
Figure Drawing 9-12 #1129
Oil Painting 1-4 #1140
SESSION 4: TWO WEEK - 7/31-8/11
Eco Sculpture: Social Practice Art Studio
1-4 #1146
WRITING
Fashion Construction
Fashion Illustration
Creative Writing
Session 3, #1145, M-F, 1-4, Online
Learn how to craft short stories, monologues, poetry and personal essays, as well as edit, revise and workshop your writing with your peers. Push your skills through journaling, freewriting, writing through music, digging through memories and dreams, and other methods of responding to the world in written form. All levels are welcome.
9-12 #1133
1-4 #1135
Figure Drawing 1-4 #1127
Oil Painting 9-12 #1141
