Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6–7pm
Friday, April 1, 9am–1pm
SAIC
Ballroom
112 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago
Convergence, SAIC’s 150th Anniversary Academic Symposium, celebrates the renowned academic programs of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). This two-day symposium led by Dean of Faculty Lisa Wainwright brings together SAIC alumni from the Departments of Arts Administration and Policy; Art Education; Art Therapy; Art History, Theory, and Criticism; New Arts Journalism; and Visual and Critical Studies, as well as the MFA in Studio and Writing programs to unpack the experience of an academic education in the context of an interdisciplinary art and design school. The symposium is structured as a series of conversations, where alumni from the School’s various Master of Arts programs will be grouped to examine how SAIC allowed their differing practices to overlap and synergize.
See the full schedule
Presented in partnership with EXPO CHICAGO.
Free and open to the public. Registration not required.
Participants
Keynote: Carol Becker, Dean of Faculty, Columbia University School of the Arts, former Dean of Faculty at SAIC
William Estrada (BFA 2000, MA 2015), Co-founder of Chicago Artists Creating Transformation Collective and Director of Education at Graffiti Institute
Leah Gipson (MA 2010), art therapist and instructor in SAIC’s Department of Art Therapy
Joey Orr (MA 2008), writer, curator, and artist
Trevor Paglen (MFA 2002), artist and writer
Anjulie Rao (MA 2014), Director of Communications at AIA Chicago
Abraham Ritchie (MA 2011), Social Media Manager Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Julie Rodrigues Widholm (MA 1999), Director of DePaul Art Museum
Nato Thompson (MA 2001), writer and Chief Curator of Creative Time
Lisa Wainright, SAIC Dean of Faculty and Vice President of Academic Affairs
Gwendolyn Whiteside (MFA 2007), Producing Artistic Director at American Blues Theater, actress, and writer
Wendy Woon (MFA 1982), The Edward John Noble Foundation Deputy Director for Education at MoMA in NY
About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman. Learn more at saic.edu.
