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The possibilities of what you can study here are endless. With access to cutting-edge technology, world-renowned faculty, incredible resources, and a class of peers from around the globe, you'll have myriad opportunities and support to grow as an artist, designer, and scholar.
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Advance your creative practice with an interdisciplinary curriculum taught in small classes by acclaimed faculty.
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Join a cohort of creative people who are pushing boundaries while gaining critical context and awareness across media.
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Why SAIC
Rigorously Experimental
At SAIC, meaning and making are inseparable. We challenge you to experiment and explore whichever media will help you express your vision.
Our Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago museum's vast collection is a core part of your educational experience. Your professors will bring you here often to view and discuss works in person.
Our City, Chicago
Chicago is a big city that's affordable and approachable, and a cultural epicenter that supports emerging artists — with SAIC at the heart of it.
A Wealth of Creative Resources
From molten metal and ceramics to 3D printing and sound studios, at SAIC you can create with traditional techniques and cutting-edge tools.
Renowned Faculty
Your professors and mentors are leading scholars and practitioners in their fields whose interests help shape curriculum and guide course offerings.
Global Internship Opportunities
Whether you want to gain experience working at Google or a Chicago design studio, SAIC's long-established art and design internship program can help hook you up.
Angel Otero Defies Definition
Though Angel Otero (BFA 2007, MFA 2009) has exhibited at museums like the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, is featured in the permanent collection at the Guggenheim, and has earned the attention of the New York Times, when it comes to his accolades, he’s both humble and occasionally exasperated by the art world’s insistence on categorizing creators.
Portraits by Greg Stephen Reigh (BFA 2013)
The Artist
Angel Otero
Image Credit: Greg Stephen Reigh (BFA 2013)
The Inspiration
Growing up in Puerto Rico, Otero first encountered the work of Arnaldo Roche Rabell (MFA 1984) at the Museo de Arte de Ponce. Otero began imitating what he saw from Rabell, and he discovered later that the artist served as an example in more ways than one: both artists' journeys brought them to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Angel Otero, The Golden Vase, 2009, oil, spray paint, and silicone on canvas, 84" x 72"
The Work
Otero’s interest in unorthodox materials—those oil paint skins for starters, but also resin, caulk, tar, and linen—comes from a place of challenging himself. “It's this sort of interesting way of self-exploring,” he said. “I think that's stayed with me even now.”
Angel Otero, Everything and Nothing, 2011, collaged oil paint skins on canvas
The Process
Much of Otero’s work stems from his own memories and experiences. “I always have tried to be, in a sort of way, biographical,” Otero said. “At the same time, I always have my hand [held out] to art history or painting history, and how I can keep that dialogue.”
Angel Otero, Spitting Sun, oil skins on fabric, 2018
