SECRIST | BEACH is pleased to announce the exhibition Master Class: Inside the Last American Museum School with SAIC Painting Alumni. Master Class brings together artworks by over 60 former and current students who studied in the Painting and Drawing Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) between the years 2000 and 2025. This exhibition, on view from April 19 through June 21, 2025 at SECRIST | BEACH in Chicago, is guest-curated by art historian, Chair of the Department of Painting and Drawing and current faculty member Lisa Wainwright along with SAIC President Emerita, Elissa Tenny. The gallery will host an opening reception for the public on Saturday, April 19 from 5-8PM. 

In 1866 a group of 35 artists founded the Chicago Academy of Design. Their mandate was to create a free school to study “life” and “antique” drawing and to run a gallery space alongside the school. The building the original gallery space occupied was lost in the Great Chicago fire of 1871, but by 1879 a new gallery space, with the support of new board members, was born and renamed the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. In 1882, that name was changed to what we know as the Art Institute of Chicago. Since that time, the School and the Art Institute have grown into a symbiotic dynamic that has greatly impacted both the Chicago scene and the larger art world in myriad ways.   

On the eve of its 160th anniversary, and little known to many, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is the last 'Museum School' in North America. In celebration of this achievement, Master Class dives into the close connection between the museum and the alums of its renowned Painting and Drawing Department from the last 25 years. On view in the gallery will be an artwork by each of the artists selected, taking up the entirety of the gallery’s 10,000 sq. ft. space. In addition to their own artwork, each artist has been asked to identify an artist and a work of theirs from the collection of the Art Institute. Didactics and a video presentation on view in our salon room will guide viewers to those works in the collection. 

 Curating this exhibition has reminded us - and will express to viewers - the integral and generative link between the school and the museum, highlighting the long histories of public collections and art-making in Chicago. Some of the connections between the artwork on view and their chosen Art Institute collection include a Tony Lewis drawing and Stuart Davis’ Ready-to-Wear (1955), Jeffly Gabriela Molina’s painting with Agnes Martin’s Untitled No. 12 (1977), Minami Kobayashi’s painting and Pierre Bonnard’s Earthly Paradise (1916-1920).

What becomes apparent in Master Class is the indelible impact these master artworks have provided for two and a half decades of art students. Contextually, placing these works into close proximities allows the viewer to comprehend the role a museum has in the cognitive and technical development of artists. Ultimately, the engaging pairings provide insight into the role of looking, sensorial consciousness, historical mapping, institutional awareness and other more surprising discoveries. This exhibition serves as a tangible experience for anyone interested in art history and pedagogy.

CATALOGUE: 

In recognition of the importance of this monumental exhibition, SECRIST | BEACH is developing a comprehensive catalogue that will provide valuable insight regarding Master Class. Many participating artists have provided their own writing in which they expound on their experience as a student, their relationship with SAIC and why the master artwork they chose was impactful. A cadre of art historians, critics and academics connected to SAIC will also be contributing essays that focus on individual artists and their inspiration. Additionally, art historian and co-curator of Master Class Lisa Wainwright and artist and SAIC Crown Family professor Michelle Grabner will contribute introductory essays diving into the history of the relationship between the School and the Institute, and the placement of twenty-five years of production in the context of contemporary art.

SCHOLARSHIP:

At the conclusion of Master Class, Carrie Secrist and Bill Beach will be presenting a gift to The School of the Art Institute to support future students and their endeavors in learning. 

Artists featured in Master Class include:

Lindsay Adams, Noelle Africh, Luke Agada, Alberto Aguilar, Latifa Alajlan, Cecilia Beaven, Aviv Benn, Samantha Bittman, Elijah Burgher, Robert Burnier, Nik Cho, Alex Bradley Cohen, Jeane Cohen, Paula Crown, Chelsea Culprit, Tavin Davis, Dana DeGiulio, Austin Eddy, Stephen Eichhorn, Peter Fagundo, Nicola Florimbi, Howard Fonda, Jae Ford, Jonathan Gardner, Magalie Guérin, Antonia Gurkovska, Efrat Hakimi, Andrew Holmquist, Mika Horibuchi, Patrick Dean Hubbell, Steven Husby, Omair Hussain, G.D. Johnson, James Kao, Em Kettner, Minami Kobayashi, Meredith Kopelman, David Leggett, Tony Lewis, MJ Lounsberry, Wangari Mathenge, Kristoffer McAfee, Rodney McMillian, Isabella Mellado, Emily Miller, Jeffly Gabriela Molina, Aliza Nisenbaum, Angel Otero, Ruth Poor, Kaveri Raina, Autumn Ramsey, Celeste Rapone, Josh Reames, Clare Rojas, Sterling Ruby, Charlotte Saylor, Claire Sherman, Sumakshi Singh, Cameron Spratley, Keer Tanchak, Sebastian Thomas, Alice Tippit, Orkideh Torabi, Pedro Trueba, Cody Tumblin, Omar Velázquez, Jonathan Worcester, Hiejin Yoo and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung.