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 School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the last remaining museum schools in the country, and the Art Institute of Chicago has long played an instrumental role in the education of those artists who studied in its galleries. SAIC predates the Art Institute of Chicago, tracing its history to an art students’ cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and school in 1869. With this exhibition, we will underscore this connection and the proximity of the Museum for which for over 160 years has impacted the production of major artwork by the School’s renowned alumni. In addition to the exhibition, a catalogue will be produced featuring each artist in the exhibition alongside an artist whose artwork is currently in the collection of the Museum who inspired them. Additional essays by art historians, writers and curators with their own ties to the School will add context to this significant institutional relationship.