
Sonia Sheridan, who taught studio arts at SAIC beginning in 1960, organized the influential Generative Systems program. Providing undergraduate and graduate students a program “in synchronization with social and technological change,” Generative Systems functioned from 1970 to 1980, later reintegrating itself into a variety of SAIC programs: Sculpture; Film, Video, and New Media; and Printmedia. Three examples from the portfolio Screen Prints 1970 (the year of Generative Systems’s inception) showcase the breadth of Sheridan’s influence on the work of students and faculty.

Untitled, Screen Prints 1970
Sherwin DeGraff conceived, organized, and produced by Sonia Sheridan produced by The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Advance Screen Company, Chicago distributed by The Goodlion

First Portrait of the Brand New Star, from Screen Prints 1970
Karl Wirsum (American, 1939-2021) conceived, organized, and produced by Sonia Sheridan produced by The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Advance Screen Company, Chicago distributed by The Goodlion

1779 Chicago (Then Called Eschikago), from Screen Prints 1970
James Zanzi (American, born 1940) conceived, organized, and produced by Sonia Sheridan produced by The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Advance Screen Company, Chicago distributed by The Goodlion