Painting & Drawing
Painting & Drawing Department
The Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is home to a diverse range of conceptual and material approaches. It is an open, pluralistic community with a primary emphasis on experimental consideration for painting and drawing in the 21st century.
Undergraduate Admissions Events
Meet with us, learn more about SAIC and our curriculum, and get feedback on your work.
Graduate Admissions Events
Learn how to prepare a competitive application, meet with faculty and staff, and explore our programs and facilities.
Lindsay Adams, "Land Marked, Once Ours," 2023
#2 Best Painting & Drawing Program
U.S. News & World Report
Best Fine Arts Grad School Rankings
Experimental Approach to Learning
An experimental, multi-disciplinary approach to learning, challenging students to explore their ideas across a myriad of disciplinary forms and procedures.
Dedicated Faculty
Diverse and dedicated faculty, consisting of more than 70 working artists whose work appears in galleries and museums across the globe. Collectively their various practices embody a wide array of conceptual and material models for painting and drawing.
Vincent van Gogh, The Bedroom, 1889, Oil on canvas, 73.6 × 92.3 cm
Expansive Body of Work
Access to the internationally recognized collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, which presents an encyclopedic body of work that spans 5,000 years of creative expression from cultures around the world.
Renowned Alums
A long record of alums who have attained a high level of achievement in their careers, earning exhibitions in world-renowned galleries and museums, teaching positions at leading Institutions, and grants, awards, and prizes reflecting excellence in their field. Recent alums of note include Tony Lewis, Allison Zuckerman, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Angel Otero, Amanda Ross-Ho, Jeni Spota, and Zak Prekop.
Fully Equipped Classrooms
Large, well-lit classrooms, critique spaces, and studios where students develop their practices, hold open discussions, and engage in rigorous dialogue with faculty and students which tests strategies of production and presentation.
Faculty News
Contact Us
Chair
Lisa Wainwright lwainwright@saic.edu
Graduate Coordinator
Scott Reeder sreeder@saic.edu
Materials & Techniques StudioLab Technician
Wenslo Garcia jgarcia18@saic.edu