Art Schools in Chicago
There are certain places in the world that produce numerous celebrities. Don’t ask why; that’s just the way it works. If you haven’t already guessed the relevance of the above statement to the topic at hand, I’ll tell you now: the windy city of Chicago has a long-standing tradition of being home to many big names like Walt Disney and Shel Silverstein, to name a few. Tourism is certainly a solid venture here, and one of the biggest attractions is actually the renowned Art Institute of Chicago, a fine arts museum housing the works of Monet and Renoir. Even from first glance, there is a streak of artistry in the locale.
To start off, those seeking art schools or colleges in Chicago cannot pass the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) without looking back. In fact, the aforementioned Art Institute of Chicago is directly associated with this school, while celebrated animator Walt Disney was an alumnus of the institute when it was known as the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Another alumnus is filmmaker Orson Welles, whose ambitious production of “Citizen Kane” (1941) still remains on the #1 spot of the American Film Institute’s #1 Great Movies of All Time List. Painter Georgia O’Keeffe was also once a student, though not a graduate. So you see, the school has all the fame it needs. But of course, I cannot overlook the U.S. News & World Report’s impressive rankings, which are often decisive factors in quite a few ambitious students’ college decisions. According to them, SAIC was ranked #1 in graduate programs in fine arts, along with the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale School of Art. Its photography program was also ranked #1, with painting following as a close 2nd.
While education in fine arts is no doubt important, the number of major broadcasting stations in Chicago calls for something more. In the field of visual arts, Columbia College Chicago stands confident as the largest communications college in the United States. Art classes here tend to focus more on the visual medium, and the student-run newspaper, the Columbia Chronicle, has won awards in addition to paying its student journalists for their articles. An atmosphere like this is definitely hard to come by, and can only exist in such a city as this, which happens to be home to stations of none other than ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. In recent years, famous TV show host Oprah Winfrey has added another money-making studio (Harpo) to this highly media-oriented city. Just how big is the media market in Chicago? It’s only the third largest in the nation, after New York City and Los Angeles, that’s all. What more can you ask?