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School of the Art Institution of Chicago
Earl & Brenda Shapiro Center for Research and Collaboration
Founding Executive Director
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago received a generous $5M gift from a benefactor for a new professional development Center to support faculty-driven research and creative practice in the City of Chicago and beyond.  The gift remained unused for two years prior to my Center leadership.  Being a typical college of art and design, SAIC did not have the kind of faculty research support services that are typically available in research universities and colleges.  This included policies and processes for negotiating corporate partnership contracts, intellectual property, and mentoring faculty on research process, practice, and resource allocation.
 
The Center was formed to increase faculty engagement with civic, academic, and corporate organizations. As the Executive Director, I developed the ​program vision after
 gaining insights into the opportunities and needs of the institution and faculty. That vision was based on the premise that: Culture and innovation intersect in provocative ways at SAIC.  Faculty research activities contribute to cultural and economic development with creative practices as the root of innovation; 21st century learning with creative practices as the seed for exploration and discovery; and enhanced quality of living with creative practice as the bedrock of society. The Center objectives to support faculty research were accomplished by mentoring faculty on research development from concept to production and dissemination, developing pre and post-award policies, brokering partnerships with academic, corporate government and NGOs, and incubating research projects through a new faculty grant program.  

Bulletin Excerpt: From the Director
​Is the practice of research in the Fine Arts and Design a new concept? I would argue strongly that it is not. Each
time an Artists or Designer picks up a paintbrush, pen, lump of clay, chisel, or microcontroller, they are applying years, if not decades to centuries, of knowledge derived through processes of inquiry, experimentation, innovation and discovery. This process closely parallels the mantras that are often heard in “traditional” research disciplines: “What is it?,” “Is it so?,” and “Why should I care?” As Artists and Designers, a take on these mantras could be, “What is it that “I/We” want to explore?,” “In what form can it be expressed?,” and, “How can “I/We” share our expressions with others?” The Shapiro Center was formed to support interdisciplinary discourse about arts-based research at SAIC with the goal to broaden and strengthen the impact we have in the global community of synergistic inquiries, projects, and networks. The Center is committed to the support of faculty research projects in new ideas, theories, creative forms, interventions and innovations. Together, we are building the structures and opportunities necessary to support research and it’s integration into the fabric of SAIC.

Vision
Culture and innovation intersect in provocative ways at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Our faculty research
activities contribute to:
  • Cultural and economic development with creative practices as the root of innovation.
  • 21st century learning with creative practices as the seed for exploration and discovery.
  •  Enhanced quality of living with creative practice as the bedrock of society.

Mission
The Earl and Brenda Shapiro Center for Research and Collaboration connected the SAIC community to civic, academic, and corporate organizations from the local to the global.
  • Partners benefited from the creative, theoretical, and applied practices unique to SAIC.
  • Faculty benefited from a SAIC-wide initiative aimed at increasing the range of research opportunities and broadening the impact of research outcomes.
  • Students benefited from an investment in their futures as creative leaders.

What We Did
Support Faculty Research
The Shapiro Center assisted faculty from early stage concept development to later stage project dissemination with the goal to support world-class arts-based research at SAIC.

Fostered a Research Environment at SAIC
The Shapiro Center helped to develop SAIC-wide processes and policies to support faculty research activities from intellectual property to pre and post-award administration.

Developed Partnerships
The Shapiro Center helped SAIC faculty develop research partnerships with government and NGO agencies including nonprofits, academic institutions and corporations.

Incubated New Research Projects
The Shapiro Center works with the SAIC community to incubate new research projects that have the potential for broad
involvement and outreach across SAIC departments that impact our faculty, students, and staff.