Rockford Art Museum presents Fast Forward: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the 21st Century Oct. 26, 2007 through Jan. 8, 2008. The exhibition features more than 80 pieces by 24 new faculty members of the prestigious school, each hired since 2000 and selected for inclusion by exhibition curators Dr. Lisa Wainwright (senior vice president/dean of faculty and dean of graduate studies) and contemporary art critic James Yood, adjunct professor of art history, theory and criticism at the school.

“The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is often referred to as ‘America’s Studio’ for its legacy as a place where radical experimentation in form and idea in arts prevail. From its founding in 1866 as the Chicago Academy of Design—known as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 1882—it has been one of the premier art academies in the U.S.,” Yood recently wrote, citing distinguished alumni Georgia O’Keeffe, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Paschke, Richard Hunt, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Grant Wood, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Estes, Walt Disney, Thomas Hart Benton, Gladys Nilsson, Rirkrit Tiravaniji, Robert Indiana and more. “But it’s never yesterday that makes an art school an exciting and viable place for visual thinking, it’s tomorrow – always tomorrow. Keeping the SAIC vibrant, making it a laboratory for new ideas in a rapidly changing environment, is the challenge facing its newer faculty.

“Fast Forward: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the 21st Century takes a close look at the men and women who have joined the faculty of the SAIC this century, and who will lead it for decades to come,” he said. “Beyond—but including—artists working in the media of painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, fashion, etc., these artists expose us to things Georgia O’Keeffe couldn’t have imagined during her time at the SAIC, culled from newer departments such as Architecture/Interior Architecture/Designed Objects, Film/Video/New Media, Art and Technology, Performance, Sound, and Visual Communication.”

Sponsored by Art in the Garden, and on display in the museum’s Funderburg and Kuller galleries, this 10-week exhibition features a diverse survey of work—fiber, installation, photography, video, mixed media, drawing, document art/conceptual art, book art, performance, painting, puppetry, sculpture, screenprinting—by artist-instructors who represent more than a dozen academic areas of the school:

 
Claire Ashley - First Year Program
Jon Cates - Dept of Film, Video and New Media
Nick Cave - Dept of Fashion Design
Nicolas Collins - Dept of Sound
Ken Fandell - Dept of Photography
Stephen Farrell - Dept of Visual Communication
Jose Ferreira - Dept of Sculpture
Michelle Grabner - Dept of Painting & Drawing
Diana Guerrero-Maciá - Dept of Fiber and Material Studies
Tiffany Holmes - Dept of Art and Technology Studies
Mark Jeffery - Dept of Performance
Anke Loh - Dept of Fashion Design
Nicholas Lowe - Dept of Arts Administration and Policy
Adelheid Mers - Dept of Arts Administration and Policy; Dept of Visual & Critical Studies
Judd Morrisey - Dept of Art and Technology Studies; Writing Program
Douglas Pancoast - Dept of Architecture, Interior Architecture & Designed Objects
Marco Poloni - Dept of Photography
Scott Reeder - Dept of Painting & Drawing
Tyson Reeder - Dept of Painting & Drawing
Alison Ruttan - First Year Program
Christine Tarkowski - Dept of Fiber and Material Studies
Jim Trainor - Dept of Film, Video and New Media
Amy Vogel - Dept of Painting & Drawing; Dept of Arts Administration and Policy
Oli Watt - Dept of Printmedia
 

“These faculty represent diversity in every sense of the concept, and offer an overview of contemporary art in all its ambition and intensity, setting the bar high for future generations of SAIC students,” said Yood.

Fast Forward is supplemented with related educational programming, including a preview gallery walk led by Wainwright and Yood, and Open Art Studio: Fast Forward, a children’s art activity session in the RAM Art Annex open Tuesdays and Sundays for eight weeks.

• Preview Gallery Walk (Friday, Oct. 26, 4:30 p.m., free admission) at Rockford Art Museum, 711 N. Main St., Rockford: Enjoy a sneak peek of Fast Forward, led by exhibition curators Dr. Lisa Wainwright, senior vice president/dean of faculty and dean of graduate studies, and nationally known contemporary art critic James Yood, also an adjunct faculty member.

• Reception for RAM Members and Special Guests (Friday, Oct. 26, 5:30-7 p.m.) at Rockford Art Museum, 711 N. Main St., Rockford: RAM members and special guests can enjoy a preview of the exhibition before it opens to the public. Interested in joining the museum? Memberships begin at $35 and include a 10% discount in the museum store. For more information call 815.968.2787.

• Public Opening (Friday, Oct. 26, 7-8:30 p.m., free admission) at Rockford Art Museum, 711 N. Main St., Rockford: Enjoy this remarkable exhibition of contemporary art as it officially opens to the public for the first time.

• Educational Programming – Open Art Studio: Fast Forward (Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sundays 1-4 p.m., Oct. 30-Dec. 18, $3, no registration required) at RAM Art Annex, 711 N. Main St., Rockford: This eight-week open art studio, inspired by the current curriculum at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, offers art activities for children ages 4 and older, including “Change the Face of Rockford,” “Found Object Sculpture,” “This Picture Makes Me Feel,” and “Use Your Creativity.”