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Fashion Design I builds the skills and talents required to achieve creative fashion. This class teaches the design fundamentals of the integrated core fashion design curriculum. Students will engage multiple skills to create individual, visionary, unconventional garments, and later, collections. Through a series of projects, students explore form, silhouette, volume, and research in design to arrive at a personal point-of-view in fashion. This course will specifically ask students to work conceptually and to develop research methodologies in their design work. Based on this inquiry, students generate sketches and surface treatments to refine their unique silhouettes and material manipulations. No prerequisite.

Form and Meaning is a rigorous investigation of the art of moving image editing and provides a historical and theoretical understanding of both classical film editing and newer modes and models of editing and perception. The course provides a working foundation and framework.

A close reading of films will train the student in the core aesthetic decisions, structures, strategies and demands of editing cinematic works. In addition, we will look at examples and discuss how editing functions for the installation artist, and further, how the Internet, New Media, television and video art have made an impact on concepts surrounding editing. Weekly readings will expand on the work presented in class.

Students should expect to research and write both a midterm and final papers as well as a few short responses to works presented in class. Form and Meaning is a theory-based seminar and is not designed to offer critique for works in progress.

During this intensive studio seminar, students will learn hands-on skills in making, animating and creating performance with masks, puppets and other sculptural objects. Students will have opportunities on-campus and at several of Chicago's great art spaces to interface with local, national and international puppetry artists and scholars, including attending live performances, building workshops, seminars and artist talks in conjunction with Chicago's International Puppetry Festival. The class begins exploring historic and contemporary mask performance, Students will learn basic performance exercises with masks and develop their own unique masks characters. Students will then explore the world of miniature objects and storytelling through toy theatre creating their own short stories. Finally, we will learn with international visiting artists to build large scale spectacle puppets and view their site specific performance.

The schedule for this course will accommodate attendance at events related to the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and will be as follows.
Week 1 (Jan 2-5): 9am-3pm
Week 2 (Jan 8-10): 9am-3pm
NO CLASS Jan 11-15
Week 3 ¿ Day/Times will vary as follows
Jan 16: 10am-5pm
Jan 17: 3pm-8pm
Jan 18: 7pm-8pm
Jan 19: 1:30pm-6:30pm
January 20: 10am-6:30pm
January 21st 10am-3pm
January 22nd 4-7pm
January 23rd 9-12pm

Students are introduced to the fundamental principles and practices of woodworking through lectures, demonstrations, and projects.

Artists¿ Books is a beginning/intermediate level course that focuses on the fundamental techniques of bookbinding so as to be able to design and produce one or an edition of artists¿ books and boxes. The class begins by learning a range of traditional binding techniques, discussing material choices, and learning about the history of artists¿ books. Later on breaking out of the box to take risks, explore concepts and unconventional materials will be strongly encouraged for individual projects. In addition, the intention of this class is to meld your own studio work and personal expression with the form of artists¿ books.

The history of fur stretches back to civilization's beginnings. What was once a necessary material for protection is now a common sight on many runways. Fur's versatility and ability to be combined with woven fabrics, leather, suede and knit makes it an excited material for exploration. Through this course, students will learn designing, pattern cutting and sewing for fur, and using this knowledge design with and use fur for garments and accessories as both material and embellishment. Students are expected to design and make one garment using fur, recycled fur or faux fur.

This drawing studio serves as a broad introduction to historical and contemporary drawing practices. This course presents drawing as an organizer of thought, experience, and image.

Students will investigate a full range of drawing materials and supports. Lectures and exercises introduce various concepts of drawing, possibly including illusionistic form and space, gesture and expressive mark-making, or collage and found imagery, depending on the instructor?s emphasis.

Designed to accommodate many skill levels, students can explore various creative strategies through technical drawing exercises, material explorations, and individual projects. Structured classroom critiques will bring drawing concepts into personal student work.

This course examines neon techniques used in both traditional and current sign making and their application in creating artworks. Contemporary technical developments are explored.

This furniture studio will critically engage the chair as an archetype. Chairs have long been a fascination of designers as they require a developed understanding of structure, material, and form. Importantly, chairs represent the cultural mores of the time in which they are produced and are inextricably linked to larger systems of power, technology, and economy. This course will explore the chair as a fluid, dynamic furniture category that is in a reciprocal relationship with culture, technology, and politics and will emphasize a hands-on approach to design and production.

This furniture studio will critically engage the chair as an archetype. Chairs have long been a fascination of designers as they require a developed understanding of structure, material, and form. Importantly, chairs represent the cultural mores of the time in which they are produced and are inextricably linked to larger systems of power, technology, and economy. This course will explore the chair as a fluid, dynamic furniture category that is in a reciprocal relationship with culture, technology, and politics and will emphasize a hands-on approach to design and production.

Siena is a hill town in Tuscany that was first settled by the Etruscans in 900 ¿ 400 BC. It reached its peak as a political, economic and artistic center in the Medieval period from 1150 ¿ 1350 AD. During those years it prospered, enjoying a ¿golden¿ era as an independent republic with a representative government, where enlightened trade and economic philosophies fostered modern banking practices and distinctive styles of painting, sculpture, and architecture developed in the service of aesthetic pleasure and civic pride. Today, Siena¿s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the city¿s art, medieval architecture, museums, archives, university and cuisine are internationally renowned.
Living the Past in the Present will use the archival and cultural resources there to give young artists greater insight into how historical interests and study can serve as a catalyst for their own growth and work as contemporary artists and thinkers. We will be interacting with artists, historians, archivists, art and architecture conservators, scientists and ordinary Sienese to understand how the experience of growing up, living, working and creating in a place with hundreds of years of vibrant historical and cultural traditions affects contemporary identity and expression.
Our time on the study trip will primarily be used for visiting and learning about sites, collections, and the people who study and live amongst them. We will also be gathering reference information to document what we are looking at and learning about: sketches, drawings, lists, diagrams, photographs, research notes, and reflective writing. There will be two assignments (one studio, one academic) that we will work on in Siena.

Siena is a hill town in Tuscany that was first settled by the Etruscans in 900 ¿ 400 BC. It reached its peak as a political, economic and artistic center in the Medieval period from 1150 ¿ 1350 AD. During those years it prospered, enjoying a ¿golden¿ era as an independent republic with a representative government, where enlightened trade and economic philosophies fostered modern banking practices and distinctive styles of painting, sculpture, and architecture developed in the service of aesthetic pleasure and civic pride. Today, Siena¿s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the city¿s art, medieval architecture, museums, archives, university and cuisine are internationally renowned.
Living the Past in the Present will use the archival and cultural resources there to give young artists greater insight into how historical interests and study can serve as a catalyst for their own growth and work as contemporary artists and thinkers. We will be interacting with artists, historians, archivists, art and architecture conservators, scientists and ordinary Sienese to understand how the experience of growing up, living, working and creating in a place with hundreds of years of vibrant historical and cultural traditions affects contemporary identity and expression.
Our time on the study trip will primarily be used for visiting and learning about sites, collections, and the people who study and live amongst them. We will also be gathering reference information to document what we are looking at and learning about: sketches, drawings, lists, diagrams, photographs, research notes, and reflective writing. There will be two assignments (one studio, one academic) that we will work on in Siena.

Siena is a hill town in Tuscany that was first settled by the Etruscans in 900 ¿ 400 BC. It reached its peak as a political, economic and artistic center in the Medieval period from 1150 ¿ 1350 AD. During those years it prospered, enjoying a ¿golden¿ era as an independent republic with a representative government, where enlightened trade and economic philosophies fostered modern banking practices and distinctive styles of painting, sculpture, and architecture developed in the service of aesthetic pleasure and civic pride. Today, Siena¿s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the city¿s art, medieval architecture, museums, archives, university and cuisine are internationally renowned.
Living the Past in the Present will use the archival and cultural resources there to give young artists greater insight into how historical interests and study can serve as a catalyst for their own growth and work as contemporary artists and thinkers. We will be interacting with artists, historians, archivists, art and architecture conservators, scientists and ordinary Sienese to understand how the experience of growing up, living, working and creating in a place with hundreds of years of vibrant historical and cultural traditions affects contemporary identity and expression.
Our time on the study trip will primarily be used for visiting and learning about sites, collections, and the people who study and live amongst them. We will also be gathering reference information to document what we are looking at and learning about: sketches, drawings, lists, diagrams, photographs, research notes, and reflective writing. There will be two assignments (one studio, one academic) that we will work on in Siena.

Siena is a hill town in Tuscany that was first settled by the Etruscans in 900 ¿ 400 BC. It reached its peak as a political, economic and artistic center in the Medieval period from 1150 ¿ 1350 AD. During those years it prospered, enjoying a ¿golden¿ era as an independent republic with a representative government, where enlightened trade and economic philosophies fostered modern banking practices and distinctive styles of painting, sculpture, and architecture developed in the service of aesthetic pleasure and civic pride. Today, Siena¿s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the city¿s art, medieval architecture, museums, archives, university and cuisine are internationally renowned.
Living the Past in the Present will use the archival and cultural resources there to give young artists greater insight into how historical interests and study can serve as a catalyst for their own growth and work as contemporary artists and thinkers. We will be interacting with artists, historians, archivists, art and architecture conservators, scientists and ordinary Sienese to understand how the experience of growing up, living, working and creating in a place with hundreds of years of vibrant historical and cultural traditions affects contemporary identity and expression.
Our time on the study trip will primarily be used for visiting and learning about sites, collections, and the people who study and live amongst them. We will also be gathering reference information to document what we are looking at and learning about: sketches, drawings, lists, diagrams, photographs, research notes, and reflective writing. There will be two assignments (one studio, one academic) that we will work on in Siena.

Join our trip to Peru to discover a unique experience while gaining insight into South America's large tradition of textile crafts as well as other artistic practices. In addition to our in-depth study of textiles, we will also concentrate on art as a catalyst for intercultural exchange, focusing on the rich vibrant indigenous Quechuan communities of the Peruvian Highlands. During the course students will have a series of practicums focusing on backstrap weaving, service projects, ritualistic ceremonies, and interactions with local indigenous communities, as we will embrace cultural tourism as a means of inter-cultural exchange through our social interactions. Another focus is the pre-Hispanic archaeological sites located in the Sacred Valley, with a visit to Machu Picchu as a highlight.

Join our trip to Peru to discover a unique experience while gaining insight into South America's large tradition of textile crafts as well as other artistic practices. In addition to our in-depth study of textiles, we will also concentrate on art as a catalyst for intercultural exchange, focusing on the rich vibrant indigenous Quechuan communities of the Peruvian Highlands. During the course students will have a series of practicums focusing on backstrap weaving, service projects, ritualistic ceremonies, and interactions with local indigenous communities, as we will embrace cultural tourism as a means of inter-cultural exchange through our social interactions. Another focus is the pre-Hispanic archaeological sites located in the Sacred Valley, with a visit to Machu Picchu as a highlight.

Contemporary Art in India has evolved rapidly over the past 30 years but artists have never lost sight of the nation¿s complex and layered regional history. While the urban centers of Delhi and Mumbai house international galleries, museums and art fairs, there are local communities that have created alternative hubs for art making. This class will explore the contemporary art worlds of India, starting in Mumbai, the site of India¿s first modernist movement, the Bombay Progressives, and visit world class galleries and museums in the former colonial district of Colaba. We will then tour the 8th-12th century cave temples of Elephanta, and even older caves of Ellora and Ajanta, which inspired post-independence artists to look back at their local sculptural traditions. We will then visit the former Portuguese colony of Goa where the critically acclaimed performance artist Nikhil Chopra (b. 1974) runs an art space, residency and performance collective, HH Arts Foundation. The trip will culminate in Varanasi, the spiritual heart of India, where students will be given the opportunity to occupy a studio space at the Kriti art residency and spend several days making art with local materials. At each site, students will participate in hands-on workshops, walking tours, studio visits, scholarly lectures and meet people engaged in making contemporary art outside of white cube spaces. Special emphasis will be given on artists who work on issues of individual and collective identities, and work on art and ecology, sustainability, and historically marginalized voices and narratives. The idea of a portable studio will be the way that each participant engages the trip on a daily basis in journaling, documentation, research, drawing, or collage. Mapping the experience of our travel and articulating a point of view through personal recording in a chosen medium will come together in a gallery exhibition/presentation in Varanasi where students will be artist-in-residence in an internationally known residency and art center.

Contemporary Art in India has evolved rapidly over the past 30 years but artists have never lost sight of the nation¿s complex and layered regional history. While the urban centers of Delhi and Mumbai house international galleries, museums and art fairs, there are local communities that have created alternative hubs for art making. This class will explore the contemporary art worlds of India, starting in Mumbai, the site of India¿s first modernist movement, the Bombay Progressives, and visit world class galleries and museums in the former colonial district of Colaba. We will then tour the 8th-12th century cave temples of Elephanta, and even older caves of Ellora and Ajanta, which inspired post-independence artists to look back at their local sculptural traditions. We will then visit the former Portuguese colony of Goa where the critically acclaimed performance artist Nikhil Chopra (b. 1974) runs an art space, residency and performance collective, HH Arts Foundation. The trip will culminate in Varanasi, the spiritual heart of India, where students will be given the opportunity to occupy a studio space at the Kriti art residency and spend several days making art with local materials. At each site, students will participate in hands-on workshops, walking tours, studio visits, scholarly lectures and meet people engaged in making contemporary art outside of white cube spaces. Special emphasis will be given on artists who work on issues of individual and collective identities, and work on art and ecology, sustainability, and historically marginalized voices and narratives. The idea of a portable studio will be the way that each participant engages the trip on a daily basis in journaling, documentation, research, drawing, or collage. Mapping the experience of our travel and articulating a point of view through personal recording in a chosen medium will come together in a gallery exhibition/presentation in Varanasi where students will be artist-in-residence in an internationally known residency and art center.

Despite rumors to the contrary, New York City remains the center of the contemporary art world, the place where a staggering quantity of art is produced, exhibited, purchased, interpreted, and evaluated. One way to make sense of the city¿s complexity and energy is to trace the dynamic pathways through which art travels: the connections between artists, dealers, institutions, and critical voices. During two intensely busy weeks in January, this study trip will investigate the full range of contemporary art production in the city, visiting artists' studios, non-profit spaces and publications, residencies, commercial galleries, and major museums. Team-taught by artist / theorist Aliza Shvarts and critic / art historian Daniel Quiles, both of whom have lived and worked in New York, the class will benefit from numerous ¿behind-the-scenes¿ opportunities with artists, critics, curators, and dealers.

Despite rumors to the contrary, New York City remains the center of the contemporary art world, the place where a staggering quantity of art is produced, exhibited, purchased, interpreted, and evaluated. One way to make sense of the city¿s complexity and energy is to trace the dynamic pathways through which art travels: the connections between artists, dealers, institutions, and critical voices. During two intensely busy weeks in January, this study trip will investigate the full range of contemporary art production in the city, visiting artists' studios, non-profit spaces and publications, residencies, commercial galleries, and major museums. Team-taught by artist / theorist Aliza Shvarts and critic / art historian Daniel Quiles, both of whom have lived and worked in New York, the class will benefit from numerous ¿behind-the-scenes¿ opportunities with artists, critics, curators, and dealers.