School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
All I can say as that there were a few teachers within my program that inspired me to dig deep and produce genuine work. I can't actually say I regret going…because I never would have met these two people if I hadn't gone.

What I want to focus on is how SAIC pretends to award experimental and boundary pushing work, but, to satisfy their investors, they in fact only rewards students that pay lame lip service to modern art, and glib conceptual suggestions…seriously their fellowship program is a JOKE. They throw literally hundreds of thousands of dollars at graduating hipsters that don't have real commitment, and don't take their work seriously. With a few exceptions, most of the people that recive these fellowships are scenesters who don't really need the money- they're more interested in out smarting each other than creating geniune work. Real avant guard artists of the past are turning in their graves when they see who SAIC chooses to support. These students do NOT take any risks, and then they are rewarded. One guy seriously poured a tube of oil paint onto a shelf and called it 'oil on wood".This was his MFA THESIS. What? Is this supposed to be challenging and new? the philosphical notion of calling attention to weak and smart ass gestures has been WELL trodden (Duchamp did it first, which makes him a genius- you doing it second makes you desperate), and not that insightful. This student recived a fellowship. Other students in my program literally did not make anything for 2 years (other than 'party') and then 2 weeks before the grad show threw something together with vacant content and unresolved form. Ugh, again these students recieved fellowships.

The SAIC grad program is supposed to be one of the top programs in north america- this is sad- They are obviously paying people to rank them. In this program you are supposed to have 2 committed advisors that guide and critique your work. There is absolutely no quality control- With a few exceptions, often they don't show up- leave early, or are checked out during your 45 min.Case in point- if i was one of the advisors to the students I mentioned who received fellowships for doing nothing- than I would have noticed and felt obligated to say 'hey, you haven't actually made anything in months- you're thoughts aren't precious or brilliant enough to excuse from making real work. I will be forced to fail you if you don't reach the benchmarks for your degree.' I actually feel embarressed that I share my status as SAIC graduate with these baffoons…Anyway, pls seriously consider NOT going to this school. I'm 80 000 in the hole, I knew what I was getting into, but I wasn't expecting so much bullshit.Don't let their lucrative fellowship program lure you- chances are if u are actually a genuine artist, you won't get one. I am actually still in therapy after graduating…I needed to rediscover why I love making art again…after being surrounded by douche bags for two years.Please read other StudentsReviews- they are much more reliable than macleans magazine..because they don't have anything to loose