Student works on print project
Printmedia

Undergraduate Overview

Undergraduate Overview

Undergraduate students who concentrate their studies within Printmedia engage a dynamic learning environment where traditional and contemporary practices are informed by the ever-expanding definition of image making.

Printmedia at SAIC may take the form of conventional approaches such as, intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, book arts and relief, as well as digital printing and fabrication. Alternative and experimental means of production are also explored. Students generate work to be shared, exhibited, performed or situated in site-specific contexts.

Course topics include:

  • Printmedia Practices
  • Artists’ Books, Offset Productions
  • Reproduction and Representation
  • Adventures in Self-Publishing
  • Image Retainer: Print in the Expanded Field
  • Advanced Undergraduate Studio

Undergraduate Admissions Requirements & Curriculum Overview

  • To apply to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), you will need to fill out an application and submit your transcripts, artist's statement, and letters of recommendation. And most importantly, we require a portfolio of your best and most recent work—work that will give us a sense of you, your interests, and your willingness to explore, experiment, and think beyond technical art, design, and writing skills.

    In order to apply, please submit the following items:  

    Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Portfolio

    Submit 10–15 pieces of your best and most recent work. We will review your portfolio and application materials for merit scholarship once you have been admitted to SAIC.

    When compiling a portfolio, you may concentrate your work in a single discipline or show work in a breadth of media. The portfolio may include drawings, prints, photographs, paintings, film, video, audio recordings, sculpture, ceramics, fashion designs, graphic design, furniture, objects, architectural designs, websites, video games, sketchbooks, scripts, storyboards, screenplays, zines, or any combination of the above.

    Learn more about applying to SAIC's Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio, or view our portfolio preparation guide for more information.

  • Studio

    69

    • CP 1010 Core Studio Practice I (3)
    • CP 1011 Core Studio Practice II (3)
    • CP 1020 Research Studio I (3)
    • CP 1022 Research Studio II (3)
    • SOPHSEM 2900 (3)
    • PROFPRAC 3900 (3)
    • CAPSTONE 4900 (3)
    • Studio Electives (48)

     

    Art History

    15

    • ARTHI 1001 World Cultures/Civilizations: Pre-History—19th Century Art and Architecture (3)
    • Art History Elective at 1000 level (3)
    • Art History Electives (9)

     

    Liberal Arts

    30

    • ENGLISH 1001 First Year Seminar I (3)
    • ENGLISH 1005 First Year Seminar II (3)
    • Natural Science (6)
    • Social Science (6)
    • Humanities (6)
    • Liberal Arts Electives (6)

     

    General Electives

    6

    • Studio, Art History, Liberal Arts, AAP, or EIS

     

    Total Credit Hours

    120

    * BFA students must complete at least 6 credit hours in a class designated as "off campus study." These credits can also fulfill any of the requirements listed above and be from any of the divisions (Art History, Studio, Liberal Arts, or General Electives).

    BFA With Distinction—SAIC Scholars Program: The SAIC Scholars program is a learning community of BFA students pursuing rigorous study in both their academic coursework and their studio pathways. There are two opportunities for interested students to apply to the SAIC Scholars Program: at the time of admission to the school, and after they have completed 30 credits of study at SAIC. Students pursuing the latter option are required to formally submit an application to the Undergraduate Division. Once admitted to the SAIC Scholars Program, students are required to successfully complete a minimum of six designated scholars courses. Students who complete the program will graduate with distinction.

    BFA in Studio with Thesis Option (Liberal Arts or Visual Critical Studies): BFA students may complete a nine-credit, research-based academic thesis as part of their studies within the 126 credits for the BFA in Studio degree. BFA with Thesis course sequences are offered over 3 semesters through the departments of Liberal Arts or Visual and Critical Studies (VCS). Students who are interested in one of the thesis options should follow the steps outlined below in the beginning of the junior year.

    Requirements for the BFA: Studio Art with Liberal Arts Thesis

    Step One: Students are required to meet with the Chair of the Liberal Arts department in the beginning of their junior year. 

    Step Two: With the Department Chair's approval, the student enrolls in the following courses beginning in the spring term of their junior year:

    • SOCSCI or HUMANITY 3900 Academic Research and Writing (3 credits)
    • LIBARTS 4800 Undergraduate Thesis: Research/Writing I (3 credits)
    • CAPSTONE 4900 Liberal Arts Undergraduate Thesis: Research/Writing II (3 credits)

    Step Three: The completed thesis must be approved by both the Thesis II instructor and the Chair of Liberal Arts. Students must make a formal presentation and participate in the Undergraduate Thesis Symposium in their senior year.

    Requirements for the BFA: Studio Art with Visual and Critical Studies (VCS) Thesis

    Step One: Students are required to meet with the Visual and Critical Studies Undergraduate Coordinator in or by the beginning of their junior year.

    Step Two: With the VCS Coordinator's approval, the student enrolls in the first of the three-course sequence beginning in the spring term of their junior year:

    • VCS 3010 Tutorial in Visual & Critical Studies (3 credits)
    • VCS 4800 Undergraduate Thesis Seminar: Research & Writing I (3 credits)
    • CAPSTONE 4900 VCS Undergraduate Thesis Seminar: Research & Writing II (3 credits)

    Step Three: Completion of thesis must be approved by both the Thesis II instructor and the VCS Undergraduate Coordinator. Students must make a formal presentation and participate in the Undergraduate VCS Thesis Symposium in the senior year.

    Total credits required for minimum residency60
    Minimum Studio credit42

Course Listing

Title Catalog Instructor Schedule

Description

How is print fundamental to artistic practice? Students will have two seven-week sections learning fundamentals, exploring ways in which artists utilize processes to facilitate print media based projects. Projects will encourage students to critically examine how print services concept and context both historically and within the contemporary. Each thematic section is anchored in a specific print process aimed to establish skill acquisition and experimentation. Sections in Room 221 and 222 will concentrate on experimental and innovative processes in Screenprinting and Lithography; the section meeting in Room 223 will explore contemporary practices using Relief, etching, monotypes, stencils, and collagraphs.

Faculty will conduct process demonstrations, introduce students to a history of practitioners in the graphic arts, and provide supporting readings. Print processes covered may include screen printing, relief, monotypes, photo plate lithography, book arts. Topics will vary but may include the multiple, seriality, editions, public address, progression of collage, and self-publishing. Learning will be aided with visits to the AIC Department of Prints and Drawings and the Joan Flasch Artists Books Collection

Class Number

1598

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 222

Description

How is print fundamental to artistic practice? Students will have two seven-week sections learning fundamentals, exploring ways in which artists utilize processes to facilitate print media based projects. Projects will encourage students to critically examine how print services concept and context both historically and within the contemporary. Each thematic section is anchored in a specific print process aimed to establish skill acquisition and experimentation. Sections in Room 221 and 222 will concentrate on experimental and innovative processes in Screenprinting and Lithography; the section meeting in Room 223 will explore contemporary practices using Relief, etching, monotypes, stencils, and collagraphs.

Faculty will conduct process demonstrations, introduce students to a history of practitioners in the graphic arts, and provide supporting readings. Print processes covered may include screen printing, relief, monotypes, photo plate lithography, book arts. Topics will vary but may include the multiple, seriality, editions, public address, progression of collage, and self-publishing. Learning will be aided with visits to the AIC Department of Prints and Drawings and the Joan Flasch Artists Books Collection

Class Number

1603

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 223

Description

How is print fundamental to artistic practice? Students will have two seven-week sections learning fundamentals, exploring ways in which artists utilize processes to facilitate print media based projects. Projects will encourage students to critically examine how print services concept and context both historically and within the contemporary. Each thematic section is anchored in a specific print process aimed to establish skill acquisition and experimentation. Sections in Room 221 and 222 will concentrate on experimental and innovative processes in Screenprinting and Lithography; the section meeting in Room 223 will explore contemporary practices using Relief, etching, monotypes, stencils, and collagraphs.

Faculty will conduct process demonstrations, introduce students to a history of practitioners in the graphic arts, and provide supporting readings. Print processes covered may include screen printing, relief, monotypes, photo plate lithography, book arts. Topics will vary but may include the multiple, seriality, editions, public address, progression of collage, and self-publishing. Learning will be aided with visits to the AIC Department of Prints and Drawings and the Joan Flasch Artists Books Collection

Class Number

1607

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 221

Description

Students are introduced to basic intaglio methods such as drypoint, soft ground, line etch and aqua tint. Use of specific tools and papers is an essential part of the course. Through examples, discussion and demonstrations students will learn to identify and select methods that suit their expressive needs and concepts.

Class Number

2285

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 223

Description

In this course students are introduced to stone lithography. Through this planographic printing process it is possible to translate hand-drawn and hand-painted images into multiples and/or multi-color pieces. Emphasis is placed on gaining a thorough understanding of the techniques and principles of lithography through class demonstrations, instruction, individual projects, discussion and critiques.

Class Number

1599

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 221

Description

In this course students are introduced to stone lithography. Through this planographic printing process it is possible to translate hand-drawn and hand-painted images into multiples and/or multi-color pieces. Emphasis is placed on gaining a thorough understanding of the techniques and principles of lithography through class demonstrations, instruction, individual projects, discussion and critiques.

Class Number

1620

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 221

Description

Students learn traditional and experimental approaches to relief printmaking. Techniques covered are woodcut, linocut, wood engraving, relief etching, monoprints, and other press and hand-printing relief processes.

Class Number

1616

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

Description

In this course, students acquire technical proficiency in the various stencil printing methods. Individual exploration and development in the medium is encouraged and supported by individual instruction and group critiques.

Class Number

1600

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 222

Description

In this studio course, students will explore relief printmaking techniques using woodblocks, linoleum, found-objects, foam, monoprints and digital processes. Students will learn how to properly carve, ink, and print blocks in order to create editions as well as experiment with non-traditional formats. Students will be exposed to the rich history of relief printmaking through traditional and contemporary examples, specifically works from AIC and SAIC collections. Returning students will expand upon previous projects and develop new approaches to exploring content and understanding relief techniques.

Students will be exposed to a wide variety of artists from the long and rich history of relief printmaking. We will examine artists who work traditionally within the medium, as well as artists who depend upon contemporary technology to create prints. Some of the artists we will explore in this course include Durer, Hokusai, Masereel, Mendez, Zarina and Baumgartner.

Over the course of the semester, students will create 10-20 prints that show an understanding of the various relief techniques demonstrated by the instructor. Students will also participate in a print exchange folio at the end of the course. Projects will be critiqued throughout the semester.

Class Number

1609

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 223

Description

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.

Class Number

1602

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 113

Description

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.

Class Number

1614

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 113

Description

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.

Class Number

2173

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 113

Description

This class introduces students to the concepts and production of distributable artists¿ projects. Working closely with faculty, students develop projects to be printed on the Heidelberg offset press and Risograph machines. Multiples such as prints, books, zines, posters, stickers, cards, and packaging are examples of potential projects that utilize these high-volume printing processes. Image creation methods include digital, photo, collage, and hand-drawing. Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of binding and packaging techniques will be demonstrated. Through hands-on examples, readings, and visits to special collections, such as the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, a wide range of printed work and distributable projects will be shared and discussed. Over the semester, students can expect to complete a number of multi-color offset and risograph projects and participate in two critiques.

Class Number

1601

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 220

Description

This class introduces students to the concepts and production of distributable artists¿ projects. Working closely with faculty, students develop projects to be printed on the Heidelberg offset press and Risograph machines. Multiples such as prints, books, zines, posters, stickers, cards, and packaging are examples of potential projects that utilize these high-volume printing processes. Image creation methods include digital, photo, collage, and hand-drawing. Adobe Creative Suite and a variety of binding and packaging techniques will be demonstrated. Through hands-on examples, readings, and visits to special collections, such as the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, a wide range of printed work and distributable projects will be shared and discussed. Over the semester, students can expect to complete a number of multi-color offset and risograph projects and participate in two critiques.

Class Number

1604

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 220

Description

Advanced exploration is encouraged in the screenprinting medium. Emphasis is placed on individual experimentation, development and the refinement of technical skills. Processes offered include large format printing, 4-color separation, and other advanced traditional photographic and digital techniques.

Prerequisites

PRINT 2005 or 2008 Pre-req

Class Number

2174

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 222

Description

Many printmakers make sculptures. Many sculptors make prints. This course focuses on the connections between relief printmaking and welded metal sculpture. When an artist is interpreting the same idea between two and three dimensions, the forms take on new lives and previously unseen relationships are formed. This class will meet in the Printmedia shop with metal fabrication instruction and assignments occurring in the metal shop.

Students will learn metal fabrication and welding processes including oxyacetylene welding, MIG welding, and shaping sheet metal using a torch. In the print shop, students will learn a variety of relief printing processes with a focus on layering. Students will utilize hand carving, CNC routed matrixes, and painterly marks. By zooming in and out on small formal moments, ideas will be translated and remixed across dimensions. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of artist working between sculpture and printmaking/drawing including Martin Puryear, Kiki Smith, Richard Hunt, Judy Pfaff, Willard Boepple, Richard Rezac, Ruth Asawa, Leonardo Drew, Alyson Shotz, Fred Wilson, Joan Jonas, David Nash, Wangechi Mutu, Jannis Kounellis, Frank Stella, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jenny Holzer, Huma Bhabha, Ann Hamilton, Rachel Whiteread, Do Ho Suh, Christopher Wool, and Ursula Von Rydingsvard.

Students will complete a series of small to midsize sculptures in tandem with a series of relief prints. The class will culminate in a mock exhibition where student¿s sculptures and prints will interact as the viewer¿s body moves through the space.

Class Number

2176

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Product Design, Art and Science, Exhibition and Curatorial Studies

Location

280 Building Rm 203

Description

This course offers advanced exploration with visual and written material in paged sequence. Ideas are encouraged within a broad range of possibilities, via the format of the artist' book. The development of a major project is encouraged.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: PRINT 2018 or PRINT 3007.

Class Number

1617

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 113

Description

This course will look at the inseparable link between comic stories and how they are reproduced. In the first half of the semester, we will gain familiarity with screenprint and risograph printing techniques, look at historical and contemporary examples of how artists employ print technology to tell stories and do in-class exercises. In the second half, students will produce their own printed comics and discuss them in group critiques.

Class Number

1610

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Comics and Graphic Novels, Books and Publishing

Location

280 Building Rm 220

Description

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

Class Number

1619

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Area of Study

Digital Imaging, Art and Science

Location

280 Building Rm 203

Description

The thematic structure of this course is situated around radical archiving, and it is named for the 2014 exhibition at the V&A Museum. Disobedient Objects will introduce students to the visual languages,
graphic trends, and production methods used in contemporary social movements 1960s to present. We will visit, study, and create works in response to ephemera in various archives around Chicago. We will examine how radical (democratic or disruptive) archiving conceptually relates to more performative, gestural, or ephemeral forms; the ways an entire studio practice, a human life, or a single object can be considered an archive.

Readings + artists discussed include: Sharon Hayes, Julie Ault, Emory Douglas, Lucy Lippard, Gregory Sholette, Group Material. Archives visited + discussed include: Interference Archive; Gerber/Hart Library of LGBTQ history, SNCC Archives, ACT UP Chicago records. Familiarity with screenprinting is *highly recommended*.

Class Number

2175

Credits

3

Department

Printmedia

Location

280 Building Rm 222, 280 Building Rm 203

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