In 1996, I was the recipient of the Art of Leadership award at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where I was pursuing my BFA in studio arts. At SAIC, I studied a broad range of art including performance, puppetry, video art, sound art, site-specific installation, photography (analogue and digital), sculpture, drawing, painting, creative writing, and art history, theory, and criticism.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America’s largest accredited independent schools of art and design. It is located in the Loop in Chicago, IL. The school is associated with the museum of the same name, and “The Art Institute of Chicago” or “Chicago Art Institute” often refers to either entity. Providing degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels, SAIC has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top two graduate art programs in the nation, as well as by Columbia University’s National Arts Journalism survey as the most influential art school in the United States.