School of the Art Institute of Chicago Magazine, Fall 2017

FA L L 2017

A BIA N N UA L MAGA ZINE

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

I N TH I S I SSUE: C A N TANI A B RUGUERA’S ART S PA R K A REVO LUT I O N?

FA L L 2017

A BIANNUAL MAGAZIN E

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FRO M THE PRE SID E NT

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MY CHI CAGO

Edra Soto’s favorite places in Chicago

5 NEWS 8

O N VI EW

Citizen artists 1 6 CO NTI NUING S T UD IE S

From law to letterpress 1 7 S TRE E T S T Y LE

At Fashion 2017 1 8 FI E L D TRIP

Making it in Milan 20 M E E T TH E NEW CL A S S 21 WH E RE I WORK

In the classroom with Valerie Xanos 22 MY O B S E S SIONS

Emil Ferris on her obsessions

23 CA RE E R CONVERSATIO NS

Expert advice from Saya Woolfalk

24 TH E PRO C E S S

Ellen Sandor on her process

26 TH E INITIATO R

Tania Bruguera’s political art inspires citizens 32 TH E A R T OF EMPATHY

Art can help us understand ourselves and each other 38 OUR K I ND OF TOWN

SAIC artists empower Chicagoans 4 4 WHY I GIVE

Jeff Koons 4 5 TH E CAM PAIGN FOR SA IC UPDATE 4 7 A R T SCENE 4 8 CL A S S NOTE S

SAIC faculty member Jan Tichy (MFA 2009) installed Beyond Streaming: A Sound Mural for Flint at the Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State Unviersity.

5 1 EVE NTS 5 7 F ROM THE ARCHIVE S

Margaret Burroughs

School of the Art Institute of Chicago magazine Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement 116 S. Michigan Ave., 6th floor Chicago, IL 60603 communications@saic.edu Vice President Institutional Advancement Cheryl Jessogne (MA 1999) Executive Director Marketing and Communications Scott J. Hendrickson

Director of Marketing Sarah Gardner Director of Public Relations Bree Witt Editor Bridget Esangga besang@saic.edu Contributing Editors Doug Kubek Ana Sekler (MA 2016) Design Studio Blue

Contributing Designers Riley Brady Jenny Halpern Jeffrey Sanchez Illustrator Patrick Jenkins (MFA 2013) Contributing Writers Zoya Brumberg (MA 2015) Micco Caporale (MA 2018) Amanda Ellison (MA 2018) Bridget Esangga Jason Foumberg (MA 2006) Sarah Gardner Adrienne Samuels Gibbs Doug Kubek Liz Logan

J. Howard Rosier (MFA 2018) Ana Sekler (MA 2016) Bree Witt Photography Olga Arango (MFA 1990) Grace DuVal (MDes 2015) Tim Knox (cover) Stephanie Murano James Prinz (MFA 1988) Todd Rosenberg Production Ethan G. Brown Printing The Graphic Arts Studio Inc.

From the President

ONE OF THE most vital and productive ideas of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is the concept of the “citizen artist.”

Citizen artists do not possess a particular nationality; citizen artists are aware of our interconnectedness as people and our shared responsibility to do good. Citizen artists recognize that their work in the studio and the classroom is not separate from the culture we live in, the politics we negotiate, and the society we build together. This issue of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago magazine tells the stories of our School’s artists, designers, and scholars who embody the role of the citizen artist.

Our cover story highlights alum Tania Bruguera (MFA 2001, HON 2016). In her work, she engages with the people of her homeland Cuba and with immigrants and passersby on the streets of New York City, using art to transform them into engaged citizens. While she has been detained and released

by Cuban authorities for attempting to stage a work offering participants one minute of free speech, she

remains positive and hopeful that if we overcome our fear and apathy, we have the power to build a better world.

The effect that art can have with an audience and in society is further explored through the concept of empathy. In an article exploring the concept, Executive Director of Counseling, Health, and Disability Services Joe Behen posits that artists have a greater capacity for empathy.

Through a historical overview and further expert testimonial, the article suggests that helping us care for one another is an essential aspect of artists’ contribution to society.

The analysis includes several individual art practices, including those of faculty members Jesse Ball, Kevin Kaempf, and Riva Lehrer (SAIC 1993–95).

The citizenship of SAIC artists can also be seen in the actions they take as well as the art they make. SAIC artists, designers, and scholars have founded arts, educational, cultural, and charitable organizations; brought unique wisdom to civic and governmental bodies; created the aesthetic of protest movements; brought art objects into the public square; and expanded the idea of what we think of as art to include projects made with community

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members’ participation.

A series of profiles on a diverse set of projects—from establishing art education programs in the late 19th century through contemporary, socially based engagements— illustrate five examples of SAIC artists’ contributions to Chicago.

The works explored in this issue of the magazine are just some of the ways our alumni, students, faculty, and staff enact their role as citizen artists.

Whether you are an artist, designer, scholar, educator, or something else entirely, I hope these stories inspire you to become a more engaged citizen with your own contribution to make.

EL IS SA TENNY PRE SID ENT, SCHO OL O F THE AR T INS TIT U TE OF CHICAGO

Follow President Tenny on Instagram at instagram.com/saicpres.

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SAIC and its students enjoy a 3 more than 100-year history with Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency. Ox-Bow is a separately incorporated nonprofit organization founded

by SAIC faculty in 1910. Its serene natural environment offers opportunity for intense focus and a community of support on its secluded 115 acres, located approximately 150 miles from Chicago near the resort town of Saugatuck, Michigan. This tradition continues today. Every summer, more than 500 artists travel to the Ox-Bow campus to study, teach, and make art, many of them SAIC students looking to satisfy their off-campus study requirement.

Photo: Grace DuVal (MDes 2015)

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Edra Soto’s Chicago (MFA 2000)

MY CHI CAGO

Garfield Park Conservatory

EDR A SOTO (MFA 2000) is a Chicago-based artist, educator, curator, and co-director of the artist-run outdoor space THE FRANKLIN. In 2017 alone, her work has been shown at such venues as Sector 2337, the Arts Club of Chicago, Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami. As of September, her work will inaugurate the Commons, a new social engagement space at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Soto told us about some of her favorite places in Chicago.

GARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY One of the largest conservatories in the nation— located in East Garfield Park.

This is the most beautiful place in Chicago; I feel so fortunate to live close to it. It will warm you in the winter with the best views in any direction. This place brings back childhood memories of living in Puerto Rico, surrounded by my mother’s tropical garden. I am familiar with so many of the plants.

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E L TACO VE LO Z

S EC TO R 2 3 3 7

QU I M BY ’ S

Some of the most memorable moments I have experienced in Chicago happened at this place. I have celebrated various birthdays here. People with incredible voices deliver the most moving performances late at night, turning the taqueria into a dancing night club.

Home of Green Lantern Press, this ambitious artistrun nonprofit disseminates contemporary art, literature, and philosophy. Executive Director Caroline Picard (MFA 2010) brings progressive artists’ projects to the foreground. Some of my most memorable moments there include seeing performances

by SAIC Professor Jefferson Pinder and the Cuban artist Carlos Martiel.

This is another Chicago gem, with a remarkable selection of books, comics, magazines, and local artists’ book projects.

If you can’t find it, they will order it for you. During my years teaching high school art, I used to tell my students to visit Quimby’s to learn and find inspiration from the world of self-publishing. I love browsing endlessly through their mammoth zine selection and attending their lecture series. ▪

News

More than 900 students received undergraduate and graduate degrees and post-baccalaureate certificates from SAIC on Monday, May 15, in Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre.

During the ceremony SAIC President Elissa Tenny presented honorary doctorates to Chicago artist Kerry James Marshall, who delivered the Commencement address, along with celebrated fashion designer and alum Maria Pinto (BFA 1990), and Co-Chief Art Critic of the New York Times Roberta Smith.

Dawn Gavin Named the SmithBuonanno Family Director of Contemporary Practices Dawn Gavin has been named the inaugural Smith-Buonanno Family Director of Contemporary Practices. She joins SAIC from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she was Chair of Visual Arts. In her role as director, Gavin will work with faculty to develop the curricular and programmatic initiatives of the Department of Contemporary Practices, which provides an intensive introduction to contemporary art and design practices and is part of the required curriculum for undergraduate first-year and transfer students. The Smith-Buonanno Family Director of Contemporary Practices was established with a generous endowment gift from Linda and Vincent Buonanno, who have a long and deep connection to the Art Institute of Chicago, both the School and the Museum.

SAIC Named Devarajulu Ravichandran Vice President of Educational Technologies and CIO Devarajulu Ravichandran joined SAIC on July 1 as Vice President of Educational Technologies and Chief Information Officer (CIO). In this position Ravichandran will lead a cutting-edge information and educational technology operation. Ravichandran most recently worked at the University of Rochester where he led Arts, Sciences, and Engineering’s web services; educational technology; faculty technology support; residential and academic networks; and the student help desk. Ravichandran brings more than 20 years of experience as a

manager, solutions architect and developer. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Anna University in Chennai, India, and his Master of Business Administration from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.

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Commencement 2017

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Obama Presidential Center Engaged SAIC Faculty and Alumni as Collaborators

VIEW OF THE PLAZA: OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

Associate Professor of Art Education Andres Hernandez (MA 2004) will work with Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects Lecturers Norman Teague (MFA 2016) and Jennifer Park as part of the Chicago-based exhibition-design team assigned to the Obama Presidential Center. The permanent Obama Presidential Center will be constructed on Chicago’s South Side in Jackson Park.

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Professor Jefferson Pinder and Alum Laura Ann Harrison Named 2017 Guggenheim Fellows

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SAIC Students Awarded Prestigious Fellowships Herman Aguirre (BFA 2014, MFA 2017) is one of eight early-career artists awarded grants from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship fund. As an Annenberg Fellow, Aguirre receives $50,000 a year for two years to help him further his artistic practice and achieve professional success.

Adela Goldbard Rochman (MFA 2017) was awarded the Claire Rosen & Samuel Edes Foundation Prize. The Edes Prize provides a one-year $30,000 award to an exceptional graduating MFA student.

Nick Mahshie (MDes 2017) received the the RumChata Foundation Fellowship in Fashion, Body and Garment. This $20,000 fellowship is presented to a student over the age of 21 to continue fashion design work beyond graduation.

Professor Jesse Ball Among Best Young American Novelists

Jefferson Pinder, Professor in the Department of Sculpture, and alum Laura Ann Harrison (SAIC 2014–17) were named among the 2017 fellows by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The annual competition recognizes a diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists who demonstrate exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or creative ability. Pinder’s work investigates identity through the most dynamic circumstances and materials. He was awarded the 2016 USA Joyce Fellowship and a 2017 Moving Image Acquisition award. Harrison is a painter and experimental animator whose films focus on marginalized social outcasts with their own subcultures. Her films have shown at festivals around the globe.

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Chancellor Walter Massey Received Honorary Degree from Harvard University

Chancellor Walter Massey was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Harvard University during its 366th commencement ceremony.

Massey was recognized for his contributions to the fields of higher education and science. This honor marks Massey’s 41st honorary degree.

SAIC Partners with New CoWorking Space for Start-Ups and Entrepreneurs SAIC is partnering with Northwestern University, Robert Bosch, and 1871 to help launch the Connectory. Housed on the fifth floor of the Merchandise Mart, the project will serve as a co-working space for start-ups and entrepreneurs, offering mentorship services as well as equipment such as sensors and 3D printers.

There will also be a faculty presence from SAIC, Northwestern University, and DePaul University.

Entrepreneurs Empowered by MakeWork Challenge

Jesse Ball, along with 20 other novelists under the age of 40, has been selected as one of the Best Young American Novelists. The honor, awarded every 10 years by the British literary magazine Granta, comes on the heels of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Ball, who is a Professor in the Writing department at SAIC.

On April 28, students and alumni competed in the annual MakeWork Challenge, which offers SAIC students and recent alumni an opportunity to present business pitches for a chance at winning up to $10,000 in start-up funding. This year’s winners are: Sky Cubacub (BFA 2015), Nick Mahshie (MDes 2017), Maryiah Winding (BFA 2018), and Justus Harris (BA 2013).

Professor of Art and Technology Studies Eduardo Kac (MFA 1990) collaborated with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard the International Space Station to create the first artwork produced in space, a paper sculpture that defies gravity. Titled Inner Telescope, the simple, three-part object marks a critical moment in Kacʹs artistic collaborations with the Space Observatory, an office of France’s National Center for Space Studies that focuses on the cultural aspect of space exploration. An article in the New York Times described Kac’s decades-long interest in space and its relationship to his creative practice.

New Full-Time Faculty Hires SAIC announced the following new full-time faculty hires for the 2017–18 academic year: Sampada Aranke (Art History, Theory, and Criticism), Jonas Becker (Photography), Lee Blalock (Low-Residency MFA), Steven Ciampaglia (Art Education), Michael Cloud (Painting and Drawing), Andrew Falkowski (Painting and Drawing), Adam Greteman (Art Education), Anne Harris (Painting and Drawing), Lou Mallozzi (Sound), Dawit Petros (Photography), Sarah Ross (Art Education), Thorsten Trimpop (Film, Video, New Media, and Animation), Jina Valentine (Printmedia), and Adrian Wong (Sculpture). Full-time visiting artists for the year include: Marie Hermann (Ceramics), Ben Hooker (Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects), Ekene Ijeoma (Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects), Jack Craig (Designed Objects), and Mai Der Vang (Writing).

Panel Discussion Covered the Promises and Perils of Artificial Intelligence On April 13, a panel of artists, philosophers, scientists, engineers, and theologians came together to discuss the promises and perils of artificial intelligence across multiple disciplines. Hosted by SAIC and Illinois Humanities, the discussion titled “Are We Really Going to Live Forever?” provided insights on topics such as man versus machine, job-taking robots, and national security concerns.

History of SAIC Published in the Campus History Series

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a comprehensive history of SAIC, was recently published as part of Arcadia Publishing’s acclaimed Campus History series. From the School’s founding in 1866 as the Chicago Academy of Design, to its 150th anniversary in 2016, the book documents the moments that sculpted the School into a global landmark of art and design. Coauthored by SAIC’s Vice President of Campus Operations Thomas C. Buechele (BFA 1990, MFA 2017) and Associate Professor of Arts Administration and Policy and Contemporary Practices Nicholas C. Lowe, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago preserves the School’s vibrant 150-year journey.

The LeRoy Neiman Center Celebrated 5-Year Anniversary

Many events—both routine and extraordinary—happen in the 17,800square-foot, two-floor LeRoy Neiman Center. On May 7, students, faculty, and staff celebrated the center’s fifth anniversary. The gift from alumni LeRoy and Janet Neiman that made the center possible has transformed SAICʹs campus, providing communal space for dining, events, and exhibitions.

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Eduardo Kac Produced First Artwork Made in Space

Scientist-in-Residence Eugenia Cheng Is Changing Views about Math

“Wokeshops” Encourage Informed Participation in America’s Democracy SAIC hosted a three-day symposium from March 31 to April 2, United States America: Three Problematic Concepts, “Wokeshops” for Informed Participation.

The event brought together experts in politics, economics, law, and journalism for a series of conversations exploring the ways the new political climate impacts both industries and individuals. Author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor delivered the keynote lecture to kick off the weekend-long series of events. The diverse group of panelists discussed the economy, news and information literacy, politics and the law, and issues surrounding race, gender, and religion.

With a new book and a heightened focus on STEM fields nationwide, SAIC Senior Lecturer Eugenia Cheng (Liberal Arts) is on the front lines of making mathematics a joy to artists and the general public alike. Cheng, the Schoolʹs scientist-inresidence, appeared on Chicago Tonight to discuss the recently-published Beyond Infinity, which surveys her most prescient theme: mathematics not only as a joy, but as a necessity for its logical and analytical uses as well as balancing your checkbook.

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AN AR TIS T helps youths creatively express their thoughts on a water crisis; a library offers protest banners that can be checked out like books; a performance provokes deep personal and social inquiry; and the stories of people excluded from history are elements of the creative practices of four SAIC artists who embody the term “citizen artist.� While their methodologies, media, and creative output may differ, as citizen artists Anida Yoeu Ali (MFA 2010), Lecturer Aram Han Sifuentes (MFA 2013, Liberal Arts and Fiber and Material Studies),

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

Assistant Professor Jan Tichy (MFA 2009, Photography and Art and Technology Studies), and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011) engage with civic and social issues to make a positive impact on their community and the world.

Anida Yoeu Ali Cloaked in a red sequin chador or “Muslim” headdress, internationally renowned artist Anida Yoeu Ali (MFA 2010) staged public performances across Europe, the United States, and in Hong Kong. Asking the question, “What is it you fear?” The Red Chador uses religious aesthetics to provoke ideas of otherness through encounters that challenge the unsuspecting publicʹs perception and fears of “the other.” Acutely

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aware of the global rise of Islamophobia, Ali feels particularly disturbed by American attitudes and policies that perpetuate religious intolerance and embolden Islamophobes.

The first series of performances was commissioned for the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in April 2015 as part of the Secret Archipelago exhibition and as Aliʹs response to the Charlie Hebdo killings. In Seattle and Hong Kong, Ali carried a sign that states “Ban me” on one side and “I am a Muslim” on the other. In Washington, DC, her character, the Red Chador,

stood silently on a platform filled with American flags. In her other performances, the artist could be found walking across campus grounds and abandoned lots, along main streets and side streets, and into churches and picketfenced backyards. Ali asks, “If you encounter the Red Chador, would you fear her or walk with her? Would you help her across the terrain or would you block her path? Would you take a moment to notice her? Would you care at all?” ▶

Top: Anida Yoeu Ali (MFA 2010), The Red Chador: Day After, 2016, Documentation: Masahiro Sugano. Bottom: Anida Yoeu Ali (MFA 2010), The Red Chador: Sanctuary, 2016. Documentation: Pablo Delano

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Anida Yoeu Ali (MFA 2010), The Red Chador: Beheadings, 2015.

Documentation: Tania Palmier Gherardi

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Aram Han Sifuentes, Lecturer in Liberal Arts and Fiber and Material Studies Aram Han Sifuentes (MFA 2013) uses needle and thread to mine from her experiences as an immigrant and address issues of labor and identity politics. Following the 2016 US elections, she began offering protest banner making workshops as a way to resist fear and hatred and bring people together in solidarity through making.

Sifuentes’ Protest Banner Lending Library in the Chicago Cultural Center from February 20 to May 18, was a communal

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

sewing space for people to make their own banners, support each other’s voices, and check out handmade banners to use in protests. The banners carry the histories of the hands that made and hold them and the places they have traveled and will travel.

Aram Han Sifuentes (MFA 2013), Protest Banner Lending Library, Chicago Cultural Center, Garland Gallery, February 7 through May 18, 2017.

Photos: eedahahm

Jan Tichy, Assistant Professor of Photography and Art and Technology Studies In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, came to the forefront of regional and national consciousness when it switched its water supply to the Flint River, leading to high levels of contamination and health problems for many residents.

Artist Jan Tichy (MFA 2009) was invited by Assistant Curator Steven L. Bridges (Dual MA 2009)to address the issue in an exhibition at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan

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State University. Bridges explains, “Jan worked with students from CarmanAinsworth High School in Flint and Everett High School in Lansing to explore how creative expression can communicate themes of social and restorative justice.” The interactive exhibit Beyond Streaming: A Sound Mural for Flint was made entirely of copper pipes running from ceiling to floor along the walls of the museum. Visitors could turn on faucets and hear poems and stories narrated by students. Beyond Streaming offered a nuanced and poetic way of coming to terms with the situation in Flint and amplified voices previously unheard. ▶

Jan Tichy (MFA 2009), Beyond Streaming: A Sound Mural for Flint, a 2017 exhibition at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University curated by Steven L. Bridges (Dual MA 2009)

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Apichatpong Weerasethakul Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness is curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong (MA 1996) and produced by Independent Curators International, New York. This solo exhibition, on view in SAIC’s Sullivan Galleries from September 16

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Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s (MFA 1998, HON 2011) work reveals stories often excluded in history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and the ill, marginalized beings, and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ashes, 2012. Courtesy of Kick the Machine Films

to December 8, presents a selected survey of rarely seen experimental short films and video installations

by Weerasethakul alongside his photography, drawings, sketches, and archival material that explore threads of sociopolitical commentary.

His passionate positions regarding class, labor, sexuality, science, and spirituality have informed his practice throughout his career. See page 52 for a Q&A with Weerasethakul. ▪

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From Law to Letterpress A Continuing Studies course inspires Violet OʹBrien to trade her legal career for creative entrepreneurship

CON TI N UI N G STUDI ES

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Left to right: Violet OʹBrien visiting a letterpress studio in Nashville that was established in 1879; Violet Press greeting cards; printing press with blank cards

AT TORNE Y VI OLE T O’Brien used to spend her days negotiating deals for big aviation clients. Now? She’s running a successful business designing and selling greeting cards and stationery for nearly 100 stores, including the national retail chain Paper Source, and independent stores in Canada and Japan.

O’Brien’s business, Violet Press, which also operates on Etsy, is a bit of a departure for the attorney-turned-SAIC Continuing Studies student.

In fact, if not for an Introduction to Drawing class she took at SAIC, O’Brien might not have returned to

her love of drawing which, in turn, led her to letterpress.

And letterpress quite literally changed her life.

Using vintage equipment is one of the perks of her new life. O’Brien, who moved from Chicago to Colorado once her new business took off two years ago, gets excited about the process of translating her drawings to polymer plates and printing them.

“It kind of spiraled out of control,” she says.

O’Brien’s drawing class at SAIC with teacher Michael Barlow reminded the thenoverworked attorney of her creative side. She had always drawn in high school and college but left it by the wayside to pursue other interests, such as negotiating commercial finance deals.

As she coaxed her drawing muscles back to life, she spent Tuesday nights in downtown Chicago, pushing her talent and making new friends in a decidedly less stressful environment than a bank legal department. Some days have been rough, but the investment is paying off, she says.

She started making stationery as a hobby and selling it at street fairs and online. But

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requests for wedding invites began pouring in. She needed a bigger space and moved into a popular artists’ loft in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood— a place sturdy enough to hold a nearly one-ton printing press—and continued her work.

“I kept working as an attorney during the day and printing at night, which led to very little sleep,” says O’Brien, chuckling.

“I came to a point where I thought ‘one of these has to go,’ and I decided I’m going for the one I really love.” ▪ A Continuting Studies course helped set Violet OʹBrien on the path to a satisfying career. See our current offerings for youths, high school students, and adults at saic.edu/cs.

Street Style At Fashion 2017

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STREET STYL E

S TUDENTS in SAIC’s Department of Fashion, Body and Garment presented their year-end collections on May 5 to a standing-room-only crowd of some of the finest dressed spectators in all of Chicago, including Chicago-based fashion designer and SAIC alum Maria Pinto (BFA 1990, HON 2017). Here are our editors’ picks of some of the best street style on display at the runway show and exhibition.

Why this outfit?

I felt French.

Favorite part?

Red beret, makes me look SAIC. What is your personal style?

I was inspired by an apple.

GILLION CARRARA

VINCENT YU

A D J U NC T PRO F E S SO R IN A R T HI S TO RY, TH EO RY, A ND C RITIC ISM A N D FA S HI O N D E SIG N

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Why this outfit?

I tried to go with my feelings about the event. I wore colors that are in my collection.

Favorite part?

The vest and belt are my favorite.

I never wear light colors so this is different for me.

What is your personal style?

I only thrift and make stuff; I like to make the unusable usable. I am influenced by anything in nature, and I love to collaborate with others.

SEMI DELAREYNA

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Why this outfit?

The skirt is from Mexico. I was traveling and saw a store with all black stuff, so of course, I went in. The T-shirt and shoes are Comme des Garçons in honor of Rei Kawakubo’s exhibition at the Met. The scarf is Price Walton, a fashion designer from Chicago [and SAIC faculty member], and I love the texture.

Favorite part?

All of it.

What is your personal style?

I love fashion! I’m drawn to volume and texture. ▪ FA L L 2 01 7

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F I EL D TRI P

Celine Setiadi (BFA 2017), In Vitro, mold-blown and cast glass

Ting-Yu Tseng (MFA 2017), Edgee, cast bronze with powder coating

In fall 2016, students received critiques of their ideas for the Milan External Partnerships course.

SAIC partnered with West Supply to fabricate the students’ glass-andbronze objects.

SPA Z I O ROS SA NA O RL A N D I , in Milan, Italy, is one of the premier design galleries in the world. Its namesake has been called “the Anna Wintour of design.” For one week in April, SAIC students were among the designers presenting their work at the prestigious gallery during Salone del Mobile, or Milan Design Week. More than 30,000 people visited that week, the sun-dappled courtyard and winding corridors of the former tie factory humming with designers, journalists, buyers, and design aficionados. With Rossana Orlandi’s careful curation, many notable careers have been launched at her gallery, which has served as a training ground for SAIC students for the past six years. It is here that students begin the transition from apprentice to professional, debuting their work and mingling with their design idols and, now, peers. But it is a long road from Chicago to Milan.

“Wonderful, stressful, tearful, beautiful,” is how Adam T. Mansour (BFA 2017) described his experience as one of the students participating in the yearlong Milan External Partnerships class in SAIC’s Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects department. The course gives students space to find their voices as independent designers and resources to produce a fully realized collection of original objects. In less than a year, the products are imagined, produced, and showcased as a collection among some of the most prominent designers in the world.

Last year, the class worked with West Supply, a Chicago-based artisanal foundry and fabricator, to develop a

collection of heirloom-quality objects in glass and bronze, including lamps, incense burners, mirrors, desk accessories, and a candelabra among other objects. Working with West Supply, the 15 students brought their products to life—learning how to design with the production process in mind, collaborating on materiality, clearly communicating ideas to the manufacturers, and producing for scale.

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F I EL D TRI P

Making It in Milan

“The real world requires a much broader understanding of how things are made beyond just having a design practice that is grounded in strong conceptual beliefs.

And being able to function as a designer is to be able to function as a maker as well,” says Celine Setiadi (BFA 2017).

After months spent honing the idea, critiquing, revising, creating prototypes, and finally producing a piece that will be taken to Milan, the work is not done.

Students create the displays and boxes for their products. They package the products to be shipped thousands of miles.

Then, they unveil their work.

“The main thing that students get out of this class is working in a professional atmosphere and presenting things professionally to the audience that we hope might become their employers in some form,” says Tim Parsons, coteacher of the Milan External Partnerships class.

Setiadi continues, “To be given the opportunity to exhibit in Milan— something that designers maybe five, 10 years into their careers still haven’t had the chance to do—is beyond incredible. We know how to navigate the next steps after graduation because of this class.” ▪ FA L L 2 01 7

MEET THE N EW CL ASS

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Meet the New Class

WILLIAM MURN I GHAN ( B FA)

R AVI JHA (B FA)

TE RRI OWE N S ( M FA)

R A K SHA THA KU R ( MA)

Hometown: Evanston, Illinois

Hometown: Glencoe, Illinois

Hometown: Charleston, South Carolina

Hometown: New Delhi, India

Three words that describe you: Curious, observant, hopeful

Three words that describe you: Ambitious, unique, handsome

Three words that describe you: Creative, inspiring, expressive

Three words that describe you: Inquisitive, observational, zany

Why you chose SAIC: I chose SAIC because of its commitment to experimentation and creating work that spans many media.

Why you chose SAIC: I was looking for a place where I could say “I want to be the best artist in the world” and not be told to instead be “a good film editor.”

Why you chose SAIC: SAIC let me earn my MFA based on my bachelor’s degree and the strength of my portfolio.

Why you chose SAIC: SAIC’s illustrious alumni and the unique MA in New Arts Journalism program and faculty drew me to SAIC.

What you look forward to doing in Chicago: Being closer to the great restaurants and concert venues.

What you look forward to doing in Chicago: I have a lot of favorite places in the city. I won’t give up any of my Preferred medium or secret spots here, and if media: Photography, painting, you ask me, I might take you. installation, and film.

Preferred medium or What you are passionate media: Filmmaking is my about: Art that makes me most refined skill technically. feel things that I cannot even But my preferred media can be begin to describe in words. anything from fashion, music, For example, the late works of and photography to sculpture. painter Philip Guston.

What you are passionate Where you find about: Political issues, fun, inspiration: I find and thinking. inspiration in observation. I notice patterns in interactions Where you find between people and the space inspiration: People, stores, they are in, small details of products, conversations, buildings, etc., that inform design, accidents, fashion, and inspire all my art. earth, pushing, pulling, feelings, and movement.

What you hope to accomplish in your time What you hope to at SAIC: I hope to advance accomplish in your time at not only my technique and SAIC: I want to be prepared craft, but also become more to become the most successful comfortable and confident artist in the world. in sharing work that is very personal to me. I also hope to become more comfortable with failure.

What you look forward to doing in Chicago: Experiencing the fierceness of Chicago’s wind.

Preferred medium or media: Recycled newspapers, brown paper bags, cotton fibers, vintage fabrics, dryer lint, moss, paint, twigs, branches that fall from trees, or anything that I find.

What you are passionate about: Using art to advocate for the empowerment of women and girls through education.

Where you find inspiration: I listen to Esther and Abraham Hicks, and I watch Super Soul Sunday to learn from people like J. K. Rowling, who was turned down many times before being accepted by a publisher.

What you hope to accomplish in your time at SAIC: To learn from my classmates and professors and gain more inspiration to create art to honor the memory of women and girls who were lynched in America.

What you look forward to doing in Chicago: I am excited to start class! Chicago’s literary legacy thrills me. I would like to explore the city’s art, historic places, and other cultural spaces.

Preferred medium or media: Writing, and I act and write in a sketch comedy group.

What you are passionate about: Visuality and narrative.

Where you find inspiration: Literature, visual art, the work of Homai Vyarawalla, the work of Sarnath Banerjee, and a dramatic evening sky.

What you hope to accomplish in your time at SAIC: To learn ways of covering art and culture that go beyond the textual and combine journalism, criticism, production, and images.

In the Classroom with Valerie Xanos (BFA 1991, MFA 2018)

“I love creating work within the collective that includes our community and provides a space that gives an empowered voice to all who inhabit it.”

“Guerrilla art is about thinking and creating outside standard norms; it’s about creating that gives voice and power to the people.

My students know that they own this space, and with that responsibility comes the trusting relationship we have developed.”

WHERE I WORK

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“My favorite part is the wall full of student art that I’ve collected.”

VA L E RI E X A NOS ’ (BFA 1991, MFA 2018) classroom at Curie High School, a Chicago Public School on the city’s South Side, strikes a balance between structure and flexibility.

While the desk surrounded by art from her Guerilla Art Collective (GAC) class is Xanos’ space, the rest of the room is open to student interpretation.

As a teaching artist, Xanos gives students the autonomy to create and develop their own voices.

Students decide how to use the

classroom, rearranging tables or using the furniture as material for an artwork. “I try to create a space where we can work collaboratively and find space to be introspective when needed,” she explains.

Xanos dissolves the teacherstudent hierarchy through the GAC, cultivating an environment where she is not the sole authority but one of the artists.

“This is as much a freedom for me as it is for the students,” she says. ▪

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Emil Ferris on Her Obsessions (BFA 2008, MFA 2010)

MY OB SESSI ON S

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EMIL FERRI S (BFA 2008, MFA 2010) is obsessed with monsters. In her debut graphic novel, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, the main character, Karen, imagines herself as a monster called the “Wolf Man” and takes it upon herself to solve the murder case of her neighbor, a Holocaust survivor. The drama unfolds in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, where Ferris grew up, and at the Art Institute of Chicago. “Karen is me, of course,” says Ferris.

Ferris’ journey to publishing her debut novel is an extraordinary one. About 14

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years ago, Ferris contracted West Nile Virus and became paralyzed, nearly losing her ability to draw, an experience she describes as the main inspiration for the novel. But Ferris refused to give up.

She learned to draw again and enrolled at SAIC, where she received multiple scholarships, allowing her obsession with drawing and art to take over. She worked on the graphic novel 16 hours a day for six years.

The book was published in February 2017 to critical acclaim. Ferris, who is busy working on her next book says she’d quit sleeping to draw if she could. We talked to Ferris about what she’s reading, listening to, thinking about, and watching when she’s not sketching.

BO O K S I’m reading Alan Moore’s Jerusalem. It is mostly brilliant for the prose, the way it defies genre and for the way it encodes magic, history, and social justice into the wide-ranging narrative.

M US I C I like to play songs over and over again while I'm writing. My favorite tune to listen to again and again is "Insane Asylum" sung (or rather emoted) by Willie Dixon and Koko Taylor. I'm also listening to a range of blues artists, such as John Lee Hooker, but my first-thing-in-the-morninglisten is (and always has been) Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

I D E A S I'm thinking about magic—about the power of intention and imagination.

M OVI E S A while ago I had the privilege of going to Facets and seeing F.W. Murnau's Sunrise. It completely blew my mind!

That's when I realized that comics makers, graphic novelists, and cartoonists are, in so many ways, the children of their great grandparents and not their parents. We cartoonists have a kinship with silent movies in a way that we don't with talkies. To that end I'm watching a silent compilation of Greta Garbo's films. ▪ Photo: Yoni Goldstein (MFA 2009)

Expert Advice from Saya Woolfalk (MFA 2004)

What was your experience like as a graduate student at SAIC? I think graduate advising was one of the most important parts of my education here. That one-on-one contact where you deeply engage with a professor: they begin to really understand your practice, and through their understanding of you, you begin to really “get” who you are as an artist.

As you transitioned to the professional world, how did you stay motivated?

The support system of being in graduate school was so incredible and so stimulating, and when I graduated, it felt like I was alone. From 2004–08, I was definitely struggling financially, but I knew what I was doing was important in the long run. I think that’s kind of what the sacrifice was about: it was the relationships I was building, the work that I was making, the focus on getting my work shown and getting continuous feedback. In the end, it really made those years worth it.

Did you ever want to throw in the towel?

What kept me going is that I’ve always been an artist. I pursued other careers.

I studied economics in school and worked for Christie’s and worked in film. I did a number of different kinds of work, but being an artist was always the thing that I wanted to do. Every time I did something else, it didn’t quite fit.

CA R EER CON V ERSATI ON S

A S ONE OF SAIC ’ s Career and Professional Experience (CAPX) initiatives, Nexus Career Conversations gives students a chance to interact with alumni and creative professionals about their career journeys. Spring 2017 speakers included film-set decorator Caroline Perzan (SAIC 1987–89), renowned artist William Cordova (BFA 1996), and Saya Woolfalk (MFA 2004), a multimedia artist who uses sci-fi/fantasy to explore utopian possibilities. Woolfalk is a Fulbright scholar who has shown in such venues as MoMA PS1 and currently teaches at The New School for Design. This is an excerpt from SAIC’s conversation with her.

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How did you find stability?

I am a sole proprietor, and every year, it’s a different situation with different projects and different needs for those projects.

Every year, I have to work to bring those projects in. I don’t think that it stops being challenging. The challenges just kind of shift and change, and I think my tolerance for living a life like this has become greater. I’m accustomed to it now.

What advice can you offer current students?

Take complete and full advantage of this place. There are so many opportunities, so many things to explore, so many people from lots of different backgrounds.

Maximize all of that while you’re here. My time at SAIC was really fruitful for me. ▪ Visit saic.edu/careers to learn more about SAIC’s career programs and find out how to become one of our experts.

Saya Woolfalk (MFA 2004). Photo: Elia Alba, The Mythmaker, 2014, part of the Supper Club series.

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Ellen Sandor on Her Process (MFA 1975, HON 2014)

Ellen Sandor (MFA 1975, HON 2014) in her West Loop studio.

Photos: Todd Rosenberg

THE PROCESS

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AR TIS T AN D SAI C alum Ellen Sandor (MFA 1975, HON 2014) recently finished a yearlong residency at Fermilab particle physics and accelerator laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, that culminated with an exhibition featuring 21 of her PHSColograms (pronounced skol-o-gram), PHSCologram sculptures, and a virtual reality experience that brings participants inside the lab’s particle accelerator to witness an artist’s interpretation of neutrinos colliding. We caught up with Sandor in her West Loop studio, (art)n Laboratory, Inc., with her collaborators Diana Torres (BFA 2010, MFA 2012) and Christopher Kemp to talk about the process behind their new media work.

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Sandor coined the term “PHSCologram” in 1983 to describe her computer-generated, 3D, digital, backlit photographs that combine elements of photography, holography, and sculpture. The PHSColograms for the Fermilab exhibition began with an intensive research phase in which the team collaborated with scientists to understand the science behind the lab’s work with neutrinos: microscopic, massless particles that travel near light speed. Getting the science “100 percent correct and juxtaposing it with exciting metaphors is essential,” says Sandor.

The entire team traded images and ideas with Fermilab scientists during weekly Skype calls. Under Sandor’s direction, Torres built the images in Maya 3D modeling software and updated them following each new insight.

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Above Left to right: Christopher Kemp, Ellen Sandor (MFA 1975, HON 2014), and Diana Torres (BFA 2010, MFA 2012) review 3D images on screen.

Christopher Kemp places an image on the light box for review.

Right Ellen Sandor (MFA 1975, HON 2014) views the Magnificent MicroBooNE: Science through the Art of Jackson Pollock and David Smith, a virtual reality experience created for the Neutrinos in a New Light exhibition at Fermilab.

When the images were complete, Kemp used a proprietary software developed by (art)n to combine Torres’ images into a single piece. The software takes 64 frames and slices them into vertical strips.

“Essentially, we are lining up the closest points,” says Kemp. “Then we do the same with the furthest points.” Lining up the images is what gives the final image depth, which can be manipulated using (art)n’s software until it looks right. “That’s the art,” Sandor explains.

When each image was ready, Kemp printed it, set it on a light box, and laid a line screen over it. The line screen blocks out a majority of the 64 frames, “But allows you to see a couple at a time, depending on

your angle,” says Kemp. “So, your right eye might see frame 37, and your left eye, frame 38. Your brain puts it together as a 3D image.” When the images looked right, they were sent off to be printed on film.

For the next work, the (art)n team is collaborating with scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, to visualize CRISPR, a gene editing tool that allows scientists to make precise changes in DNA. The idea for the work was given to Sandor by her 19-year-old autistic grandson who recently gained the ability to communicate. Sandor says he told her, “It’s going to be one of the hopes for my future.” Sandor, Torres, and Kemp are now working with the scientist who developed CRISPR. The new work, like the Fermilab exhibition about neutrinos, will use art to make complex science more accessible. ▪

Ellen Sandor’s (MFA 1975, HON 2014) West Loop studio.

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THE INITIATOR TANIA BRUGUERA

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POLITICAL ART INSPIRES CITIZENS

BY BRIDGET ESANGGA

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TANIA B RUGUE R A (MFA 2001, HON 2016) is running for president of Cuba. In an online video announcing her candidacy, she urges viewers in her native Spanish to reject fear and apathy and imagine a Cuba where they have the power to demand their rights.

“Let’s start by proposing ourselves as potential candidates to the elections,” the English subtitles read. “Today I will start this exercise. I propose myself as a candidate for the 2018 elections. Propose yourself!”

The Republic of Cuba is, of course, a communist state in which current president Raúl Castro won 100 percent of the vote in the last election, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook. While Castro has announced plans to step down

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from the presidency next year, his successor is widely believed to have been chosen already. But where others see insurmountable obstacles, Bruguera sees opportunity.

She is not an artist; she is, in her own words, an “initiator.”

Bruguera’s art transforms her audience into engaged citizens. She proposes an idea, or initiates a piece, but “I recognize that the idea is going to change and be shaped by the people, by the community, and not by the desire of the artist,” she says. It’s easy to see why people are drawn to Bruguera. She has a warm smile and greets you with a hug upon meeting for the first time. So it’s not surprising

that when she proposes a project, people join in. She initiates it, and her audience and those in power complete it.

A striking example of this idea is #YoTambienExijo, a planned restaging of Tatlin’s Whisper #6 (Havana Version).

Presented in 2009 at the Havana Biennial, the work consists of a microphone, loudspeakers, a podium, and a stage. Bruguera invites viewers to participate in one minute of free speech.

In December 2014, she returned to Cuba to restage the performance in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución. Her permit was denied, but she prepared to move forward.

The day the performance was scheduled, she was detained by the government. The detention became part of the work, and the Cuban authorities who questioned her became participants.

Previous spread: Tania Bruguera at the Hyde Park Art Center in the exhibition Public School. Photo: James Prinz (MFA 1988) This page: Tania Bruguera, Opening Session of the foundational process of INSTAR–Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt; May 20, 2015, Anniversary the Republic of Cuba; uninterrupted collective reading and discussion of a text by Hannah Arendt The Origins of Totalitarianism; materials: Cubans, visitors, 1 dove, 1 armchair, The Origins of Totalitarianism book, 1 loudspeaker inside and 1 loudspeaker outside of the Institute, lectures and discussion recorded and sent via email to persons outside the country who would like to be part of the piece, cultural officers, Cuban state security agents, Movement “Respuesta Rapida,” and repudiation act; variable dimensions. Courtesy of INSTAR and Yo Tambien Exijo Platform

THE I N I TI ATOR

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Bruguera’s fearlessness in her art has earned her a spot on Foreign Policy magazine’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers list and the shortlist for the 2016 #Index100 Freedom of Expression Award. She won the 2015 Herb Alpert Award, served as a Yale World Fellow, and inaugurated the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs’ artist-inresidence program.

Before gaining international recognition, Bruguera began her career focusing on the work of another Cuban artist which was also shaped by the Cuban government: Ana Mendieta. Mendieta was exiled from Cuba two years This page: Tania Bruguera, Tribute to Ana Mendieta, 1986–96, long-term re-creation of works using Ana Mendieta's artworks and unrealized projects, lectures, exhibitions, interviews, texts

after Fidel Castro came to power. In her most famous work, she traced her own silhouette into landscapes as a reaction to being torn from her homeland. From 1985 to 1996, Bruguera re-enacted Mendieta’s work in a series titled Tribute to Ana Mendieta.

By 2000, when Bruguera was invited to participate in the Havana Biennial for the first time, her work had taken a more overtly political turn. She submitted Untitled (Havana, 2000), a large-scale installation inside a military facility. The floor was covered with decomposed sugar cane, and visitors walked through the darkness toward the glow of a television monitor playing public and private videos of Fidel Castro.

That same year, Bruguera applied for an MFA in Performance at SAIC. “I had acquired a little recognition in Cuba at the time, and I was feeling that I didn’t have real criticism of the work,” she says. SAIC challenged her identity as an artist and confirmed her shift from “performance” to arte de conducta, or art that uses social behavior as its material, and arte útil, which aims to transform society by using art to propose solutions to real problems.

These threads continue to carry through her work.

Following her detention, Bruguera launched a Kickstarter campaign for her latest project, the Institute of Artivism Hannah Arendt (INSTAR) in Havana. Named for the German-American political theorist, this institute brings artists and activists

from around the world to Havana to inspire ordinary Cubans to become active citizens by giving them space to freely deliberate the future of their country. Bruguera says, “It is about creating bridges of trust where there is no fear of each other, to create a peaceful and responsible response where there is violence, to create a place where people from different political views can come together to build a better country.”

When INSTAR was founded, the United States had begun to restore relations with Cuba.

As the political climate shifts, and the communities of Cuban citizens and artists come together, Bruguera’s work begins to take form. ▶

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THE I N I TI ATOR

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In presenting Bruguera with an honorary doctorate in 2016, SAIC Professor Rachel Weiss described her process as one “in which she doesn’t know what will happen or what the work will finally consist of and mean until that emerges in the process of the work playing out. That means it’s a process that requires the courage to not know and to have faith in the people who become part of it.”

In a one-party state like Cuba, people can’t vote or demand their rights. Bruguera points out that in the United States, certain groups of people are excluded from democracy as well, and that’s where art comes in. In the face of uncertainty, and in a climate of fear, Bruguera remains fearless and bound to the idea that art can create a better world. “Art is a very effective tool for political change,” says Bruguera before leaving the interview to join a march for immigrant rights in Chicago. ▪ Tania Bruguera; Untitled (Havana, 2000); 2000; video performance and installation with sugar cane bagasse, TV black and white monitor, Cubans, DVD discs and DVD players; 13.12 × 39.37 × 164.04 feet

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BY LI Z LOGAN

R I VA L E H RE R (SAIC 1993–95) is an unorthodox portraitist. For The Risk Pictures, the Chicago-based artist invites into her home subjects, or collaborators, some of whom have experienced some sort of stigma— for being a transgender person or having a disability, as examples. Other collaborators do not have a disability, but are friends or acquaintances of the artist. Then, Lehrer has a system of rules. The sittings are three hours long, and after two hours, she leaves the premises, allowing her subject to do whatever he or she wants in her home, and she asks that the subject alter the portrait with her art supplies. (The subject can even destroy the portrait.)

When Lehrer returns, she can respond to what her subject has done to the portrait, but she can’t erase any new marks. The finished portrait is signed by Lehrer and her collaborator.

Lehrer, who has written about portraiture as a tool of power throughout history, says, “What does it mean to stare at someone for whom being looked at is often traumatizing? I wanted to make myself vulnerable the way my subjects are, to feel that loss of autonomy. The process is often painful and frightening. Sometimes, the person won’t make marks, because that means being exposed.”

“What does it mean to stare at someone for whom being looked at is often traumatizing?”

In the 1800s, philosophers of aesthetics wondered why art brought people pleasure, and they came up with the idea that art triggers viewers’ memories and emotions. So, empathy was the mysterious element that connected art and the viewer. In 1873, German aesthetics student Robert Vischer described this projection of emotion as einfühlung, “feeling into,” and, in 1909, British psychologist Edward Titchener translated the word into English as “empathy.” Freud argued that psychoanalysts should embrace empathy in order to understand their patients. ▶

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Empathy is a key part of Lehrer’s political artworks, and her work illustrates how empathy pervades both art-making and the experience of looking at art.

The Center for Building a Culture of Empathy describes empathy as four spokes on a wheel: self-empathy, or mindfulness of what’s going on inside oneself; mirrored empathy, meaning taking on another person’s emotion; imaginative empathy, which involves putting yourself in another person’s shoes; and empathic action, i.e., contributing to the wellbeing of others. All of these aspects can play a role in art-making.

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Joe Behen, PhD, Executive Director of Counseling, Health, and Disability Services at SAIC, observes, “Artists, as a whole, are more empathic than nonartists. They’re more sensitive. They tend to have more fluid, permeable personal boundaries that allow them to connect to people in meaningful, emotional ways. That connection provides fuel for the creative process.”

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Walter Osika, MD, PhD, Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, is doing research on the connection between burnout and compassion, which is defined as the action that results from empathy. He adds, “Artists can increase empathy in others through their work, eliciting that feeling from people who may be numb from all the terrible things going on in the world, making the viewer more sensitive and vulnerable.” ▶

Left: Riva Lehrer and Chase Joynt, Risk Picture: Chase Joynt.

Photo: Tom Van Eynde

Right: Riva Lehrer and Hillary Chute, Risk Picture: Hillary Chute.

Photo: Tom Van Eynde

THE A RT OF EMPATHY

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“Artists try to make a gift of what they have felt,” he says. “What they have felt is the aggregate of what they have seen, and so it includes their own imaginings of what others have thought and felt.”

In his 2014 novel, Silence Once Begun, his narrator is an eponymous journalist who is suffering over a failed marriage.

The fictional Jesse Ball tells the story of a salesman in a fishing town in Japan who confesses to a crime he did not commit and, in a failure of the justice system, bears imprisonment, refusing to speak.

The journalist tells the story as an act of empathy, bearing witness to the man’s plight. In 2014, in the Paris Review, Ball said of using his own name in the book, “It’s an attempt to reconcile my experience of painful events in my own life with the world that I hope exists, a place where a person can have a meager place and not be sent away.”

Top: Lucky Pierre, Final Meal #75, video still

Then, there’s art that involves empathic action, and part of that is calling viewers’ attention to social or political issues.

Since 2006, the Chicago-based art collaborative Lucky Pierre has re-created hundreds of final meals of death row inmates in Texas, which they found listed on the Texas Department of Criminal Justiceʹs website, as part of a massive, ongoing performance and black-andwhite film project, Final Meals. The group has traveled to different cities—including Detroit, Portland, Berlin, and Hamburg— inviting the public to participate in the project by signing up for a meal, without knowing what it will be. Then, each participant receives a meal in solitude and is filmed from above; he or she can eat the meal, or just simply sit there.

Compiled footage from these sessions has been shown in several galleries.

Kevin Kaempf, a member of Lucky Pierre and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Sculpture at SAIC, says, “We found the list on the website to be a strange proclamation of efficiency. So, we wanted to focus on the element of humanity and the conditions in our society that brought people to this moment—the conditions in which people aren’t taken care of, and then the state ultimately takes care of them.”

In addition to empathic action, Kaempf says the project also involves mirrored empathy: “I think the participants gain insight into a feeling of comfort for the inmate, because the meal requests clearly come from a memory—perhaps because a meaningful person prepared that dish for the inmate in the past.”

For these artists, empathy doesn’t have clearly defined boundaries; though there are four defined types, there’s much overlap. Ultimately, making art in an empathic way seems to require a certain vulnerability on the part of the artist (and, in the case of Final Meals, the participants as well). According to Ball, artists are constantly “re-feeling” emotions they have felt before or observed in others.

“Artists can increase empathy in others through their work, eliciting that feeling “Most of us are taught in our lives to from people who conceal, rather than reveal, what we’ve felt,” he says. “But for artists, it’s as if may be numb from they’re constantly breaking ice on the all the terrible things surface of a lake. To me, there is no real separation in the arts, between writing, going on in the world, visual art, et cetera. They’re all a gift of what has been felt and seen, as it is making the viewer incarnated in some momentary form.” ▪ more sensitive and vulnerable.”

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THE A RT OF EMPATHY

Lehrer’s work partly involves “mirrored” empathy—i.e., recognizing and relating to others’ emotions—while fiction writers are often employing “imaginative” empathy, by putting themselves in their characters’ shoes. For SAIC Professor of Writing Jesse Ball, empathy is an integral part of his process. He has written numerous books, including novels and poetry collections.

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Our Kind of  Town 38

SAIC artists empower Chicagoans

By Jason Foumberg (MA 2006)

For more than a century, SAIC has possessed an ethos of civic engagement that compels its artists, designers, scholars, and educators to create work that extends beyond the studios and classrooms and into the diverse communities of Chicago and beyond. In 1899, faculty member Lorado Taft sparked a conversation on what work women should do for allowing his female students to help create a fountain in the form of nude female figures. In the 1940s, Art History faculty Helen Gardner and Kathleen Blackshear (MFA 1940) placed the art of Africa, Aboriginal art, and Islamic art on the same level of the European Renaissance—a radical idea for the time.

These early examples set the stage for faculty and alumni to continue to engage with the critical issues of their time.

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Here are five moments throughout our history when SAIC artists, designers, scholars, and educators made a difference with their work.

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Art School at Jane Addams’ Hull-House

SAIC alum and faculty member Enella Benedict, after her 1890 graduation, founded an art school at Hull-House, a settlement home created by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in a densely populated immigrant neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Benedict moved into the home in 1893 during the World’s Columbian Exposition. She expanded the studios to appeal to all ages and brought in other teachers and artists-in-residence and held exhibitions. Her classes offered an opportunity for all people to exchange ideas and create art together. At the same time, she remained on the faculty at SAIC, serving as a bridge between the two institutions. She lived and taught at Hull-House for more than four decades, longer than any other resident aside from Jane Addams herself. ▶ Art class at Hull-House. Chicago History Museum image number: DN-0005531

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South Side Community Art Center

In 1940 a group of artists led by SAIC alum Margaret Burroughs (BA 1942, MA 1948, HON 1987) founded the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC), the first African American art center in the United States, with help from President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration program.

Burroughs, who later went on to found Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History, left a deep impression on the city not only through her artwork, but also in her role as a dedicated community advocate of Black culture.

She proudly said her museum was started by “ordinary folks” to signify that anyone could build a museum if it needed to exist, if certain historical truths had been lost or obscured. The museum maintains its connection to SAIC as faculty member Lee Bey was recently named its director. Today, both DuSable and the SSCAC continue to serve Chicago.

Margaret Burroughs (BA 1942, MA 1948, HON 1987) and artists at the South Side Community Art Center, 2010

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Wall of Respect

OU R KI N D OF TOWN

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A new institution need not always have four walls; sometimes it can have a single powerful wall. As the 1960s saw massive political and social shifts in Chicago, a South Side mural came to be known as the Wall of Respect.

It featured paintings of Black heroes like Nina Simone and Muhammad Ali. SAIC students and alumni in the AfriCobra (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) movement contributed to the Wall, which became an icon of racial equality and Black greatness and a gathering site for activism. The Wall of Respect is considered the spark of Chicago’s public mural movement. ▜ The Wall of Respect, January 1, 1967. Photo by Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Archive Photos/Getty Images

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A Lived Practice

In fall 2014, SAIC mounted a three-part program comprised of a major exhibition, series of five publications, and conference led by Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies and Professor Mary Jane Jacob.

Collectively called A Lived Practice, it asked, “Can a life practice be an art practice, and can an art practice be a life practice?” Jacob, a key scholar and practitioner of social practice, says, “There is an ethos at SAIC that artists do not just critique culture, but they can change it.” The Chicago Social Practice History Series, the go-to handbook for today’s artist-activists that emerged from this program, will publish its sixth volume this fall titled Talking to Action and dedicated to Latin American perspectives.

City Farm, Chicago. Photo: Patricia Evans

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OU R KI N D OF TOWN

SAIC at Homan Square

Two years ago this fall, SAIC opened a new space for artists in Chicago’s Homan Square community. Housed within Nichols Tower, the satellite classroom offers SAIC faculty, students, and alumni a place to engage in arts and civic literacy with residents of the city’s North Lawndale neighborhood, a community working to redevelop itself from years of poverty and violence.

Free art classes are offered to local residents on topics from how to use big data to combat street violence to urban farming. SAIC students take elective courses in the refurbished art deco building—the original 1906 Sears Tower— on topics like Lavie Raven’s University of Hip Hop. This fall will debut Miguel Aguilar’s (MA 2011) year-long Spray Runners: Street Art and Body Training class that blends hyper-local mural history with jogging.

In this space, SAIC aims to engage neighbors, artists, and scholars in collaborative processes to identify issues, promote public discourse, and catalyze social change, continuing a tradition more than a century old. ▪ bLUMEN (shown here) combines art, architecture, and technology to create a flourishing plant-growth environment that engages and connects with the Homan Square community.

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WHY I GIVE

WHY I GI V E

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Jeff Koons (SAIC 1975–76, HON 2008) Photo: Branislav Jankic (MFA 2019)

Jeff Koons “PAR T OF WHAT ’S SO WON D E RF UL A N D J OY F U L about being an artist, and being involved in the art community, is that people in this community care about each other,” says the world-renowned artist Jeff Koons (SAIC 1975–76, HON 2008), who studied under influential Chicago Imagists, such as Ed Paschke (BFA 1961, MFA 1970, HON 1990) and Karl Wirsum (BFA 1962, HON 2016), as well as notable faculty members Ray Yoshida (BFA 1953) and Whitney Halstead (BFA 1949, MFA 1954). Koons has donated one of his works, Gazing Ball (Stool), 2013–2016, to SAIC. The sculpture is made of polychromed stainless steel, wood, glass, and aluminum. The piece, valued at $1 million, will be sold at a later date. Proceeds from the sale will provide need-based and merit-based scholarships, to be known as Jeff Koons Scholarships, to undergraduate students.

Koons remembers Paschke fondly as an incredible mentor and friend, who taught him about the art world and how to make

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

decisions that would help, not harm, his career. “There are so many people, including Ed, who helped me through my college years, giving me time and friendship,” Koons says.

“So, it’s wonderful to be able to give opportunities to students who have ambition and are engaged with art.”

For Koons, studying at SAIC and working as Paschke’s assistant was a transformative experience, and he used that education to become the internationally known artist he is today. It’s hard to travel to a major city without encountering one of Koons’ larger-than-life sculptures, which reference popular and mass culture. Among his most iconic works are Balloon Dog, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, and the monumental floral sculpture Puppy. Working in the tradition of the readymade while exploring art historical themes, his work seeks to open paths to selfacceptance and transcendence. Since he began exhibiting his work in the 1980s, he has become one of the most popular and influential artists of the post-war era. ▪

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THE CAMPAIGN F OR SAI C UPDATE The generosity of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, friends, foundations, and corporations supports the artists, designers, and scholars who transform the world with their Beautiful/Work.

TOTAL CAMPAIGN RESULTS $48.2 MILLION

PERCENT OF GOAL COMPLETE 96%

TOTAL DONORS 1,809

CA M PA I G N G IVI NG BY D ONOR GROUP

ALUMNI $10.6 MILLION

BOARD MEMBERS $22.1 MILLION

FRIENDS $11.6 MILLION

PARENTS $3.9 MILLION

PROGRAMS AND DEPARTMENTS $7.0 MILLION

ANNUAL FUND $4.2 MILLION

THE CA MPA I GN F OR SA I C UPDATE

J U NE 3 0 , 20 1 7

CA M PA I G N G IVI NG BY F UND ING PRIORIT Y

STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS $26.8 MILLION

FACULTY PROFESSORSHIPS AND AWARDS $10.2 MILLION

CA M PA I G N G IVI NG BY F UND ING T Y PE

ENDOWMENT $33.0 MILLION

RESTRICTED $10.9 MILLION

UNRESTRICTED $4.3 MILLION

ANNUAL GIVING

PLANNED GIVING

SAIC’s Annual Fund provides students with financial aid, academic programming, facility enhancements, technology acquisitions and upgrades, and many other initiatives crucial to their education.

Planned gifts today will sustain SAIC well into the future.

From gifts of real estate to proceeds from bequests and trusts, there are many giving options that allow you to give during your lifetime and beyond.

WAYS TO G I V E

CASH AND SECURITIES Outright gifts of cash and appreciated securities (stocks, bonds, and mutual funds) can easily be donated to fund student scholarships and fellowships, faculty professorships, departments, and programs, all of which support the campaign.

Learn more at campaign.saic.edu.

1866 FOUNDER’S CIRCLE The 1866 Founder’s Circle honors SAIC friends and alumni who have generously included the School in their estate plans.

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A Scholarship Benefit for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

SAVE THE DATE MARCH 2, 2018

saic.edu/beautifulnight

Join us for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) first alumni and faculty art auction and benefit event supporting student scholarships as part of Beautiful/Work: The Campaign for SAIC.

SAVE THE DATE / FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2018 Mana Contemporary / 2233 South Throop Street / Chicago • 25+ pieces auctioned, including works by Nick Cave, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Orly Genger (Post-Bac 2002), Angel Otero (BFA 2007, MFA 2009), and Sterling Ruby (BFA 2002) • Cocktail party and food stations • Artist activations by SAIC alumni and faculty Proceeds benefit the Beautiful/Work Scholarship Fund. For more information or to purchase tickets please call 312.499.4190 or visit saic.edu/beautifulnight.

Beautiful/Night Committee Heather Becker (BFA 1989) Melissa Behm Daniel Berger Daniel Bryant Holly Hunt

Silvia Krehbiel Monique Meloche (SAIC 1991–94) Maria Pinto (BFA 1990, HON 2017) Beth K. Rosen Donna Stone

Art Scene

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A RT SCEN E

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3 4

6

5

7

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1. BFA SHOW OPENING RECEPTION

3. DESIGN SHOW PUBLIC CRITIQUES

5. MFA SHOW OPENING RECEPTION

March 11 / Sullivan Galleries

May 13 / Block 37

April 28 / Sullivan Galleries

2. ARTBASH OPENING RECEPTION

4. VISITING ARTISTS PROGRAM: ANN HAMILTON

6. FASHION 2017

7. CONVERSATIONS AT THE EDGE: HYPHEN-LABS

March 30 / Gene Siskel Film Center April 7 / The LeRoy Neiman Center

February 7 / Rubloff Auditorium

May 5 / Venue Six10

8. COMMENCEMENT

May 15 / Auditorium Theatre

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Class Notes

2010s

CL ASS N OTES

Ekaterina Balueva (MA 2016) welcomed a new baby, Yvo Bogert.

Patsy Díaz (MA 2015) began a new position as Program and Event Facilitator with the Chicago Park District.

Ricardo Phillips (BFA 2013, MA 2015) was selected for the program, “Connecting Collections: Integrating Modern and Contemporary Art into the Classroom” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vasia Rigou (MA 2015) launched Rainbowed., a website about art and culture in Chicago.

Rashayla Marie Brown (BFA 2015) is a High Concept Labs’ spring 2017 Sponsored Artist and a finalist for the 2017 Chicago Artadia Awards.

Natalie Castro (BFA 2017), Oscar Chen (BFA 2017), and Sappho Finnegan (BFA 2017) were spotlighted in Out magazine for their debut fashion collections, which challenge the binary assertion of gender-specific clothing.

Chantelle Choi’s (BFA 2017) Devil’s Tea Cold Brewer, an easy-cleaning coffee maker, won the academic award at SAIC’s Design Challenge.

Theodore Darst’s (BFA 2011) first solo show was on display at Magenta Plains gallery in New York City.

Mary Serbe (MA 2010) is now Education Director at Yellowstone Art Museum.

Jiieh G. Hur (MFA 2011) exhibited the work Noanimal for the joint exhibition Clear Confusion with Min ha Park at Whistle, Seoul.

JinApril Son (BFA 2014) presented her solo exhibition and curated the multimedia event, RX Vision Space Jam 001 in Detroit.

Jac Kuntz (MA 2016) published art reviews for the online publication Burnaway.

Vincent Tiley’s (MFA 2013) work is featured in OUT magazine, and the work was at Museum of Art and Design in New York City, curated by Danny Orendorff (MA 2012).

Tiley also debuted the video installation Material Eyes at the International Museum of Surgical Science.

Kimia Maleki (MA 2016) curated Sedentary Fragmentation a group show of Iranian artists including: Hannibal Alkhas (MFA 1959), Yasamin Ghanbari (MFA 2010), Azadeh Gholizadeh (MFA 2012), Maryam Hoseini (MFA 2016), Mehdi Hosseini (BFA 1968), Elnaz Javani (MFA 2015), Sophie Loloi (BFA 2016), Nazafarin Lotfi (MFA 2011), and Raha Raissnia (BFA 1992) at Heaven Gallery.

Brontë Mansfield’s (MA 2017) new podcast, Mystic, is garnering praise from the A.V. Club.

Viraj Mithani (BFA 2015) had a solo exhibition Decalcomania Fractal: An Ode to Naren at Clark House Initiative in Bombay.

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

Ahran Won (MArch 2014) was selected as one of four prototype winners for the Lexus Design Award.

Lantian Xie (MFA 2012) is representing the United Arab Emirates at the 57th Venice Biennale.

2000s Jozef Amado (MFA 2006) and Işil Eğrikavuk (MA 2005, MFA 2008) are exhibiting After the Fact at the Lenbachhaus museum in Munich.

Karen Archey (BFA 2008) was named curator of contemporary art and timebased media at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Sharon Burdett (MFA 2005) won the 2017 Startup Challenge for her bread-baking device.

Jason Childers (BFA 2009) was a featured artist in the Occupy Museums installation Debt Fair at the 2017 Whitney Biennial.

Alex Chitty (MFA 2008), and Cameron Clayborn (BFA 2016) are finalists for the 2017 Chicago Artadia Awards.

Emil Ferris (BFA 2008, MFA 2010) recently released her debut graphic novel, My Favorite Thing is Monsters, to critical acclaim, and is finding herself in the spotlight with profiles in the New Yorker, New York Times, and Chicago magazine.

Ruba Katrib (BA 2004) was named curatorial advisor to the 2017 Frieze London art fair.

Athanasia Kyriakakos (MFA 2000) is a finalist for the National Teacher of the Year award.

Josh Mannis (MFA 2005) is the recipient of the 2017 New York NADA Artadia Award.

Peter Miller (MFA 2005) will be exhibiting work in the central show of the 2017 Venice Biennale.

Huong Ngo (MFA 2004), Aram Han Sifuentes (MFA 2013), and Jenn Smith (MFA 2016) were named 2017 Breakout Artists of the year by Newcity.

Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (MFA 2008) received the Mies van der Rohe Award from the City of Krefeld and had two solo exhibitions: Two Flamingos Copulating on a Tin Roof at Kunstmuseen Krefeld and Linnaeus in Tenebris at the Contemporary Art Museum Bordeaux.

Sterling Ruby (BFA 2002) is working with longtime collaborative partner, Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons to reinvent Calvin Klein.

Patricia Treib (BFA 2001) was announced as one of the winners of the 2017 New York Artadia Awards.

1990s Several alumni were selected to create new artwork for the City of Chicagoʹs 50 × 50 Neighborhood Arts Project, including Karen Ami (MFA 1995), Oona D’mello (BFA 2014), and Andryea Natkin (BFA 1981) of the Chicago Mosaic School; Adam Brooks (MFA 1988) and Mathew Wilson (MFA 1993) of Industry of the Ordinary; Erik Debat (SAIC 1991–93); Eric Garcia (MFA 2009) and Katia Perez Fuentes (BFA 2018) of El Paseo Community Garden; Alejandra Garcia Perez (BFA 2017) and Helen McElroy (MFA 2002) of Territory; Elnaz Javanidizaji (MFA 2015) and Meera Rampalli (MA 2019) of Green Star Movement; Erik Peterson (BFA 1999); Cheryl Pope (BFA 2003, MDes 2010); and Bernard Williams (SAIC 1981–84).

Peter Barrett (MFA 1996) co-authored the book Project 258, which details the restaurant Fish & Game in Hudson, New York.

Sanford Biggers (MFA 1999) was awarded the Rome Prize.

William Cordova (BFA 1996) had a solo show, smoke signals: sculpting in time, at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Krista Steinka (BFA 1993) has been announced as a 2017 Howard Foundation Fellow for Photography.

Zurich Esposito (MS 1995) and Angelique Power (MFA 1998) were included in Newcity’s “Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago” issue.

Gina Szulkowski (BFA 1992) was named Illinois Art Education Association’s Secondary Art Educator for the Year for 2016.

Warren Fischer (SAIC 1991–93) and Casey Spooner (SAIC 1989–93) will release an album with Michael Stipe and Boots. The duo also had a museum exhibition at MUMOK in Vienna and released an artist’s book, both titled SIR.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011) was awarded the Prince Claus Laureate Prize.

Arthur Hon (SAIC 1999– 2004) was named Sommelier of the Year by Food and Wine magazine.

Arthur Polendo (MFA 1998) participated in the 2017 Whitney Biennial as part of the Occupy Museums collective.

Jason Salavon (MFA 1997) was the first artist to integrate his work into a recently unveiled installation at 150 North Riverside Tower.

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1980s Adele Friedman (MFA 1980) had a solo exhibition of her films, Perspectives on Portraits and Place: The films of Adele Friedman at the Museo Hermann Nitsch in Naples, Italy, and in Nantes, France.

Hong Sang-soo’s (MFA 1989) latest film On the Beach at Night Alone, screened at the Berlin Film Festival this year.

The film won a Wilf Family Foundation Award at the 34th Jerusalem Film Festival.

David Sedaris (BFA 1987) had a US book tour for Theft

by Finding: Diaries 1977–2002, which was released on May 30.

Tony Tasset’s (MFA 1986) sculpture, Deer was included on Chicago’s Riverwalk as part of Chicago’s “Year of Public Art” initiative.

Natalie Bookchin’s (MFA 1990) film Long Story Short was recently featured in Hyperallergic and screened at BRIC House in Brooklyn.

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1970s

CL ASS N OTES

Andrea Reynders (BFA 1971) and Morlen Sinoway (BFA 1974) were included in Newcity’s 2017 “Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago” issue.

1960s Sheila Elias (BFA 1969) had a solo exhibition, eye-Pad, at Silvana Facchini Gallery in Miami, and she was in the group exhibition The Trace at Lichtundfire Gallery in New York.

Barbara A. Rossi (MFA 1970) and Karl A. Wirsum (BFA 1961, HON 2016), had work shown alongside vintage, playable pinball machines in the exhibit, Kings and Queens: Pinball, Imagists and Chicago at the Elmhurst Art Museum.

1950s Merle Temkin (BFA 1959) exhibited work in the Racine Art Museum’s Wustum Generations, and in Reunion II at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago.

In Memoriam

Alumni leaders from major SAIC alumni communities across the United States and in China, India, and Korea gathered in Chicago in June for a retreat guided by the Office of Alumni Relations. The goal was to equip and empower these alumni as leaders in their communities, to help them start new alumni groups, support existing groups, and encourage them to serve as ambassadors of the School.

If you would like to be included in Class Notes, send your professional or personal accomplishments such as exhibitions, publications, lectures, new additions to your family, or marriages to alumni@saic.edu. Use the hashtag #SAICalumni on public posts in your own social media channels to be featured on saic.edu/alumni.

Art Green (BFA 1965, HON 2016), Constantino Mitchell (SAIC 1979), Gladys Nilsson (BFA 1962, HON 2016), James T. Nutt (BFA 1967, HON 2016), Suellen Rocca (BFA 1964, HON 2016),

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

Mathew Devendorf ʹs (MDes 2015) passion for drawing comics pushed the boundaries of sequential art. Among his most recent accomplishments was designing an object for a special collection for CB2 that debuted in 2016.

Cheng-Yung Kuo (BFA 2007, MFA 2009) was an interdisciplinary artist who applied his experience to projects for nonprofit, academic, private, and government based organizations. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and he was the president of the Taiwanese Junior Chamber of Commerce of North America.

Katie Kurcz (MA 2009) had an immense impact on the local Chicago arts community. She was the Director of Programs at the Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC), and she was the founding Co-Chair of Snow City Arts’ Auxiliary Board.

Jay Lynch (SAIC 1963–67) was an artist, writer, and satirist who was a central figure in the “underground comix revolution” of the 1960s and ‘70s. He co-founded Bijou Funnies, was the main writer for Bazooka Joe comics from 1967 to 1990, but was best known for his comic strip Nard n’ Pat. Ryan Wright (MFA 2014) was an accomplished artist, actor, musician, and writer. He was involved with Curious Theater Branch and was a member of the band The Crooked Mouth, in which he sang and played the guitar and mandolin. He also taught creative writing, music, and theater.

Exhibitions

SU LLIVAN GA LLE RI E S 33 S. State St., 7th floor saic.edu/exhibitions 312.629.6635 Gallery Hours Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

Closed November 23–26 and December 22–January 2 Faculty Projects August 29–October 14 Reception: Friday, September 15, 6:00–9:00 p.m.

New Work August 29–October 14 Reception: Friday, September 15, 6:00–9:00 p.m.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness September 16–December 8 Reception: Friday, September 15, 6:00–9:00 p.m.

Articulating Time and Space October 3–24 Fall BFA Show November 18–December 8 Reception: Saturday, November 18, 12:00–6:00 p.m.

/DIALOGUES AT EXPO CHICAGO Presented in partnership with EXPO CHICAGO, /Dialogues offers panel discussions, conversations, and provocative artistic discourse with leading artists, curators, designers, and arts professionals on the current issues that engage them. /Dialogues takes place at EXPO CHICAGO on Navy Pier. For more information, visit expochicago.com/programs/dialogues.

S ITE GA L L E RI E S SAIC’s student-run SITE Galleries (formerly Student Union Galleries) provide the public with experimental exhibitions of student work in two locations on campus: the LeRoy Neiman Center and a newly renovated gallery space in the Columbus Drive Building.

Thursday, September 14 2:00–3:00 p.m. Conversations at the Edge—EXPO VIDEO: These Restless Times 3:30–4:30 p.m. Curatorial Forum Panel 5:00–6:00 p.m. EXPO CHICAGO Art Critics Forum: Criticism in the PostTruth Era

Columbus SITE 280 S. Columbus Dr., room 103

Friday, September 15 12:00–1:00 p.m. Superdesign: Radical Italian Design 1965–1975 2:00–3:00 p.m. Architecture as Metaphor: Nature vs. Culture 3:30–4:30 p.m. Make New History: Photography in the Expanded Field of Architecture 5:00–6:00 p.m. Resistance and Necessity: Language in Art and Architecture Saturday, September 16 2:00–3:00 p.m. Cultural Cargo Sunday, September 17 12:00–1:00 p.m. Global Art Geographies 2:00–3:00 p.m. The Hospitality of Violence SAIC BOOTH AT EXPO September 13–17 Opening: Wednesday, September 13, 12:00–9:00 p.m.

Navy Pier

Sharp SITE 37 S. Wabash Ave., suite 106

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Exhibitions at SAIC are a significant resource for the School community and the city at large. The Sullivan Galleries, SITE Galleries, and other temporary locations on and off campus are engaged as sites of interaction, experimentation, and dialogue among students, faculty, and alumni, as well as places for collaboration with Chicago’s artists and other cultural institutions. Exhibitions are free, and open to the public.

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Gallery Hours Monday–Friday, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Alternate hours by appointment Weebles wobble but they don't fall down August 30–September 22 Reception: Friday, September 8, 4:00 p.m.

Sharp SITE 37 S. Wabash Ave. SITE-Curated Exhibition September 21–October 13 Reception: Thursday, September 21, 4:00 p.m.

Columbus SITE 280 S. Columbus Dr. Making Out October 5–27 Reception: Thursday, October 5, 4:00 p.m.

Sharp SITE 37 S. Wabash Ave. RHIZCITY October 26–November 17 Reception: Thursday, October 26, 4:00 p.m.

Columbus SITE 280 S. Columbus Dr. Queer Utopias November 16–December 15 Reception: Thursday, November 16, 4:00 p.m.

Sharp SITE 37 S. Wabash Ave. FA L L 2 01 7

Q&A with Apichatpong Weerasethakul (MFA 1998, HON 2011) What was it like to study at SAIC in the late ‘90s?

I focused on film, and the School offered two formats: super 8 and 16 mm. It was the first time I had touched celluloid. To me its simplicity was magic. It’s only light and chemical.

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Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Courtesy of Kick the Machine Films

APICHATP ONG WEER A SETHAKUL’S (MFA 1998, HON 2011) work reveals stories often excluded in history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and the ill, marginalized beings, and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons.

His films and art projects have won him international acclaim, including the Palme d'Or Prize at the 63rd Cannes

Film Festival in 2010 for his feature film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

On September 16, he returns to SAIC for the US premiere of his exhibition, The Serenity of Madness.

Which professors made an impact on you as a student?

My first teacher was Zack Stiglicz, who arrived to class in shorts and a red bandana.

Where I came from was conservative and still is. The way the teachers dressed was an introduction to something related to freedom. Then there was Shellie Fleming, who reminded me there was no right or wrong—who remains a guiding spirit. Another person was Dan Eisenberg, whom I respect deeply. In retrospect, I had learned a lot about experimental cinema, but what I got most out of that time was the teachers’ attitudes and world views.

How does your art speak to the larger concerns of society?

Any art manifests the concerns of life. We need to get ourselves used to many waves and ideologies. It is important to be aware of the [global] and local narratives. Even though you cannot do much about certain issues, at least you know that you are lied to, and that you won’t do the same to others, for example. Sometimes just simply being aware can be a powerful tool.

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

What role do you see art playing in talking about social and political issues?

I can only speak to my wishes for where I live. Art fosters more platforms for different voices. Political debates have to be part of everyday life, like art. We grow up in a media culture. We should use it to reflect more freedom, less obedience.

What advice do you have for current students?

Art questions. Art is a gesture of dream and intellect.

Therefore, you need to synchronize yourself with it, make it as layer-less as much as possible. Too much intellectualization can cloud the child in you. ▪ Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s exhibition The Serenity of Madness is on view from September 16 to December 8 at the Sullivan Galleries, 33 South State Street, 7th floor. On Tuesday, September 19, SAIC’s Visiting Artists Program presents Weerasethakul as part of its Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series.

Visit saic.edu to learn more.

This exhibition is produced by Independent Curators International (ICI) with SAIC’s Sullivan Galleries. curatorsintl.org/exhibitions

Lectures

Formalized in 1951 with the establishment of an endowed fund by Flora Mayer Witkowsky, the Visiting Artists Program (VAP) hosts public presentations by some of today’s most compelling practitioners and thinkers to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of contemporary art and culture. All events are free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. Learn more at saic.edu/vap or 312.899.5185.

Laura Owens: Bill & Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor Tuesday, September 12, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Established in 2006 by a generous gift from Bill and Stephanie Sick, this distinguished professorship enables internationally renowned artists and designers to visit and teach at SAIC.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series Tuesday, September 19, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Office of Alumni Relations Do Ho Suh Monday, October 9, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr.

Sarah Schulman Tuesday, October 24, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Gareth Pugh in Conversation with Gillion Carrara & Caroline Bellios Wednesday, November 1, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Department of Fashion Design and the Fashion Resource Center

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VISITING AR TI S TS PRO GR AM

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Mark Dion Monday, October 16, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Conversations on Art & Science Series

Gareth Pugh, 2017 Spring/Summer Collection, London. Courtesy of Gareth Pugh

Stefan Sagmeister Monday, November 13, 6:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Department of Visual Communication Design. Additional support provided by the Architecture & Design Society at the Art Institute of Chicago

Do Ho Suh, Home within Home within Home within Home within Home, 2013, polyester fabric, metal frame, 602.36 × 505.12 × 510.63 inches. Courtesy of National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Korea FA L L 2 01 7

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THE G R AYCE SLOVE T AN D WILLIAM B RON SON MITCH E LL LEC T U RE SE RI E S Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects (AIADO) The Mitchell Lecture Series brings leaders and emerging voices in architecture, design, and other disciplines from around the world to SAIC for lectures, workshops, and studio visits. For more info, visit saic.edu/aiado. Lectures are free, and open to the public.

Clear Your History: Data, Transparency, and the City Ben Hooker, Ekene Ijeoma, Ann Lui Wednesday, September 13, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

SAIC Ballroom 112 S. Michigan Ave. Presented in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial Superstudio Monday, September 18, 6:00–8:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium 230 S. Columbus Dr. Presented in partnership with EXPO CHICAGO, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and the Architecture & Design Society of the Art Institute of Chicago Fiona Raby Thursday, September 28, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave. Sampson Wong Friday, October 13, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave.

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

Rural Urban Framework Thursday, October 19, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave. Yolande Daniels Thursday, November 9, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave. Jill Magid Tuesday, November 14, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave. Clemence Seilles Thursday, November 30, 4:15–5:45 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave.

CO N VE RSATI O N S O N A R T A N D SC I E NC E Under the leadership of Chancellor Walter Massey, the Conversations on Art and Science series launched in 2011 as a forum for exploring interdisciplinary and critical perspectives on art, science, design, and technology. Lectures and panel discussions bring noted artists, designers, and scholars to campus to discuss myriad perspectives on art, science, design, and technology and sustain the diverse conversations within the work of SAIC students and faculty.

All events are free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. Learn more at saic.edu/ artandscience.

Botanical Speculations Symposium: Keynote talks

by Michael Marder and Giovanni Aloi Friday, September 29, 9:30 a.m.–5:45 p.m.

SAIC Ballroom 112 S. Michigan Ave.

Aimée Beaubien, Gusts in the Hothouse, 2016

OTH E R L EC T URE S Printmedia Visiting Artist Lecture: Bethany Collins Tuesday, September 26, 4:15 p.m.

Columbus Drive Building 280 S. Columbus Dr., room 203 Printmedia Visiting Artist Lecture: Maggie Crowley and Javier Bosques Tuesday, October 3, 4:15 p.m.

Columbus Drive Building 280 S. Columbus Dr., room 203

Screenings

Carrie Sandhal, "Centering the Disability Experience: Disability Art and Culture on Its Own Terms" Tuesday, October 10, 4:15–6:00 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave. Sponsored by the Art Therapy department in partnership with Bodies of Work Fiber and Material Studies Visiting Artist Lecture: Jeffrey Gibson Wednesday, October 11, 4:15 p.m.

Sharp Building 37 S. Wabash Ave., room 1005 Writing Program Visiting Poets Series: Paisley Rekdal Monday, October 30, 7:00–8:00 p.m.

Poetry Foundation 61 W. Superior St. Fiber and Material Studies Visiting Artist Lecture: Stephanie Syjuco Thursday, November 2, 4:15 p.m.

Sharp Building 37 S. Wabash Ave., room 327 Printmedia Visiting Artist Lecture: Julie Rodrigues Widholm Wednesday, November 8, 4:15 p.m.

Columbus Drive Building 280 S.Columbus Dr., room 203 Fiber and Material Studies Visiting Artist Lecture: Namita Gupta Wiggers Wednesday, November 28, 4:15 p.m.

Sharp Building 37 S. Wabash Ave., room 327

CO N VE RSATI O N S AT TH E E DG E Organized by the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation in collaboration with SAICʹs Gene Siskel Film Center and SAICʹs Video Data Bank, Conversations at the Edge is a dynamic weekly series of screenings, performances, and talks by groundbreaking media artists. For more information, visit saic.edu/cate. All screenings take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center unless otherwise noted.

The Real-Fake Curated by Claudia Hart, Rachel Clarke, and Pat Reynolds Thursday, October 19, 6:00 p.m.

Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder: The Changeover System With sound artist Brian Case Thursday, October 26, 6:00 p.m.

Presented in collaboration with Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago

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Writing Program Visiting Poets Series: Layli Long Soldier Tuesday, October 3, 7:00–8:00 p.m.

Poetry Foundation 61 W. Superior St.

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Gene Siskel Film Center 164 N. State St. 312.846.2800 siskelfilmcenter.org Admission $11 general public $7 students $6 members $5 SAIC faculty, staff, and the Art Institute of Chicago staff Free for SAIC students EXPO VIDEO: EXPO CHICAGO /Dialogues Panel with EXPO VIDEO Curator Ali Subotnick and Artist Stanya Kahn Thursday, September 14, 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Navy Pier 600 E. Grand Ave., Festival Hall See expochicago.org for tickets.

Presented in collaboration with EXPO CHICAGO Jim Trainor: The Pink Egg Thursday, October 12, 6:00 p.m.

Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder. Image courtesy of the artists

Alex Gerbaulet: Digging Deep Thursday, November 2, 6:00 p.m.

Presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Chicago

Alex Gerbaulet, still from SCHICHT (Shift), 2015.

Courtesy of the artist

The Films of Ana Mendieta Thursday, November 9, 6:00 p.m.

Jim Trainor, still from The Pink Egg, 2016. Image courtesy of the artist Ana Mendieta, still from Butterfly, 1975. © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, L.L.C. Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York FA L L 2 01 7

Other Events

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Sondra Perry: Video and Performance Thursday, November 16, 6:00 p.m.

EV EN TS

An Evening with Coco Fusco Thursday, November 30, 6:00 p.m.

Presented in collaboration with SAICʹs Video Data Bank

OTHER SCRE E N I NGS Film/Lecture Series: Making 'Em Move: A History of Animation Starts September 1 Delores September 22–28 Third Annual Irish American Movie Hooley September 29–October 1 The Dunning Man Friday, September 29 Emerald City Saturday, September 30 The Young Offenders Sunday, October 1 Ex Libris October 6–12 Apichatpong Weerasethakal Screenings October Visit siskelfilmcenter.org for info.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ghost Teen, 2009.

Courtesy of the artist

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

Bauhaus Legacy? Demystifying the Bauhaus in Chicago and Beyond Guest lecture by Gunnar Green Wednesday, September 20, 4:30 p.m.

The LeRoy Neiman Center 37 S. Wabash Ave. Presented by the Departments of Art History, Theory, and Criticism and Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects SAIC at Homan Square Open House Saturday, September 23, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Nichols Tower 906 S. Homan Ave. The 29th Annual Norma U. Lifton Lecture in Art History Guest lecture by Deborah Willis Wednesday, September 27, 6:00–7:30 p.m.

SAIC Ballroom 112 S. Michigan Ave. Graduate SAIC Day Chicago Sunday, October 1, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

SAIC Ballroom 112 S. Michigan Ave. Undergraduate National Portfolio Day Sunday, October 15, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Columbus Drive Building 280 S. Columbus Dr. Graduate National Portfolio Day Saturday, November 4, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Columbus Drive Building 280 S. Columbus Dr. Holiday Art Sale Friday, November 17, 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 18, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

SAIC Ballroom 112 S. Michigan Ave. New Blood XI: Student Performance Festival Saturday, November 18 Links Hall 3111 N. Western Ave.

Arts Administration and Policy Critique Week December 4–6, 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Sharp Building 37 S. Wabash Ave., room 327 CPS All City Senior Exhibition 2017 Chicago Public School All-City Senior Portfolio Exhibition January 6–14, 2018 Reception: Wednesday, January 10, 5:00 p.m.

Sharp SITE 37 S. Wabash Ave.

From the Archives

FEW ARTIST/EDUCATORS cast a longer shadow than Margaret T. Burroughs (BA 1942, MA 1948, HON 1987), who founded the DuSable Museum of African American History and the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) in Chicago. These institutions became national models for community-based organizations.

In an interview with Black Enterprise magazine, Burroughs said, “A lot of Black museums have opened up, but we’re the only one that grew out of the indigenous Black community. We weren’t started by anybody downtown; we were started by ordinary folks.”

Burroughs studied at SAIC throughout the 1940s, earning her Bachelor of

Arts and a Master of Arts in Art Education. She taught for more than 20 years at DuSable High School and for 11 years at Kennedy-King College in Chicago’s Bronzeville community.

Burroughs was awarded an honorary doctorate from SAIC in 1987 and was often called “Dr. Burroughs” in the community.

Upon her death in 2010, President Barack Obama praised Burroughs “for her generosity and commitment to underserved communities through her children’s books, art workshops and community centers that both inspired and educated young people about African-American culture.”

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Margaret T. Burroughs (BA 1942, MA 1948, HON 1987) photographed by Sherwood E. Fohrman for his Faces of Chicago series, which sought to combat Chicago’s Prohibition-era reputation as a gangster-ridden city through portraits of its artists and thinkers.

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Office of Institutional Advancement 116 S. Michigan Ave., 6th floor Chicago, IL 60603

ON SAIC.EDU/MAGAZINE The School of the Art Institute of Chicago magazine explores SAIC’s ethos of civic engagement through art. Our artists, designers, scholars, and educators take their work out of the classrooms and studios and into the world, making a positive impact in Chicago and beyond. This issue explores the work of Cuban artist Tania Bruguera (MFA 2001, HON 2016), who creates participatory artwork that transforms her audience into engaged citizens; the role of empathy in artmaking; and a few key moments in SAIC’s long and deep history of educating citizen artists.

Learn more about the people and stories featured in this issue, view slideshows of additional photos, and access previous issues by visiting saic.edu/magazine.

STAY CON N ECTED

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. facebook.com/saic.admissions twitter.com/saic_news instagram.com/saicpics Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Ghost Teen, 2009. Courtesy of the artist See his exhibition The Serenity of Madness at the Sullivan Galleries and Distinguished Alumni Lecture this fall.