Amee Spondike Joins School of the Art Institute of Chicago as the Vice President for Advancement

CHICAGO––The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), a leader in art and design education, announced the appointment of Amee Spondike as the School’s next vice president for advancement. Spondike will oversee all facets of philanthropy at SAIC, including major gifts, annual giving, stewardship, alum and parent engagement, and corporate and foundation relations.

“Amee’s extensive development and fundraising experience will allow us to continue to create more opportunities for our students for decades to come, and I am confident that she will be a great addition to our School’s leadership team,” said SAIC President Jiseon Lee Isbara.

Spondike has spent 20 years as an arts fundraising professional. Prior to joining SAIC, she worked as the senior executive director for museum advancement at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where she oversaw a portfolio of 150 major, principal, and prospective donors. Her creative stewardship included those who gave gifts of art, local artists, and RISD alums as a way to build community to support the ongoing mission of the museum. Before that, she held several other positions at RISD, University of Michigan, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Spondike grew up in Detroit, where early visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts museum informed her love of the arts. In her roles at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, she expanded this passion into creating new endowments, securing major art gifts, and designing the museum’s first corporate giving program. Spondike’s understanding of the power of art and design make her the perfect fit for SAIC. She will begin her role on April 1.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an institution that shares my belief that art and design can change the world,” said Spondike. “I cannot wait to deepen and expand the support of this phenomenal creative community in Chicago and beyond.”

About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

For more than 155 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 in the nation 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, and adults, teens, and kids in our Continuing Studies classes have the opportunity to explore their creative sides, build portfolios, and advance their skills. Notable alums and faculty include Georgia O’Keeffe, Nick Cave, David Sedaris, Cynthia Rowley, Michelle Grabner, Richard Hunt, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Jeff Koons.