City and School: A Cultural Crossroads

Chicago is our city: diverse, vibrant, and brimming with creativity. Our ongoing lineup of public (and mostly free) exhibitions, screenings, artist talks, and other cultural events helps keep it that way.

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Artist Talks & Films

    Visiting Artists Program

    The Visiting Artists Program brings the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars to SAIC. Through a diverse mix of lectures, screenings, talks, and readings, the free program provides a platform for innovative ideas that inspire and educate.

    Audience listening to Whitaker Malem Lecture in the Art Institute of Chicago Fullerton Hall

    Conversations at the Edge

    A collaboration with SAIC’s Gene Siskel Film Center, this dynamic series offers free screenings, performances, and lectures from groundbreaking international media artists throughout the spring and fall.

    Photo of an auditorium

    Gene Siskel Film Center

    Chicago’s premier art house cinema, the Film Center at SAIC offers independent releases, international festivals, archival restorations, and much more.

    The facade of the Gene Siskel Film Center at night.

    SAIC Shows

    Every year, our students exhibit their groundbreaking art and design work at SAIC Shows on campus.

    SAIC FASHION: INTRINSIC BEING

    GIF of models walking the runway at a fashion show

    FALL UNDERGRADUATE EXHIBITION

    GIF of artists' work on display

    SPRING UNDERGRADUATE EXHIBITION

    GIF of artists' work on display
    Student selling art

    Student Art Sales

    SAIC’s twice-annual sales are an opportunity for degree-seeking artists and designers to sell original work and for you to support the next generation. You’ll find everything from prints and sculptures to jewelry and knitwear.

    They did not hesitate by Eiko Otake

    They did not hesitate by Eiko Otake

    Institute for Curatorial Research

    New Points of View

    Through site-specific projects in Chicago and around the world, the Institute for Curatorial Research and Practice investigates exciting new pathways in the complex relationship between artist, artwork, and audience.