Since it was founded in early 2005, The Chicago Mosaic School has become the center of education for mosaic arts in the United States.As the first Mosaic Arts school in the Americas, CMS attracts students and instructors from around the world- all seeking a high level of arts education and inspiration that does not exist anywhere else. The school is committed to providing an inspirational and creative environment within our wonderful arts facility and art galleries. CMS fosters an appreciation and awareness of both classical and contemporary mosaics with superior instruction from professional experienced artists. The school continues to be dedicated to preserving and promoting the mosaic art form through new and exciting school programs community partnerships, and teacher training programs. In 2010, CMS became a partner school with The Mosaic Art School of Sydney, Australia (MASS) to create and foster cultural and education exchange between our students and teachers. The Chicago Mosaic School continues to build relationships with art schools and universities ( Columbia College, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago for example) to fill the void in premier academic education in Mosaic Arts.
The Chicago Mosaic School serves as an educational source for lectures, tours, demonstrations and presentations from local, national and international artists. This year, CMS is proud to announce Matteo Randi as our new Educational Director. Matteo has been a Visiting Artist at CMS for almost 5 years; his training in classical and contemporary arts is unparalleled We are excited about the many changes that are on the horizon as CMS fills the void in arts education in the rich and vast field of Mosaic Arts. The Chicago Mosaic School offers courses utilizing all approaches in design and construction of fine art and architectural mosaics, for beginning through advanced levels of study. Some courses offered are: Architectural Mosaics, Modern Mosaic Study, Glass on Glass, Greco-Roman Portraiture Reproduction, Smalti Intensive, Sculptural Forms and much more. New courses are added every semester as our school and curriculum grows. All courses are structured to address the individual student and their specific goals and projects.The Faculty of The Chicago Mosaic School are professional, exhibiting mosaic artists with degrees in fine arts. Our faculty is educated in all areas of mosaics, from mosaic design to architectural installation. For more information about our faculty, please see the Faculty and Staff page link.
The range of work created by today’s mosaic artists is vast, from soaring sculptural mosaics utilizing advanced architectural techniques to the intricate details in micromosaics that are assembled with the use of a magnifying lens and tweezers. What they commonly possess is the interweaving of units or pieces of materials to produce the completed whole. Even the material in use by contemporary mosaic artists shows the diversity of this art form. Contemporary mosaic artists use a variety of materials in theirs works, including vitreous glass tile, smalti, handmade ceramic tile, porcelain, marble, and stone, among many.
The Chicago Mosaic School was founded in 2005 by award winning classically trained sculptor and mosaic artist Karen Ami. When Ms. Ami sought post -graduate educational opportunities in mosaic art, she was surprised to find that she would have to go outside of the United States for academic study. In response to her experience of study abroad, Ms. Ami collaborated with four local professional mosaic artists to create what is now The Chicago Mosaic School. In five short years it has become a thriving creative community that is filling the void in mosaic art education in the United States.
The Chicago Mosaic School has established itself as an educational source for lectures, demonstrations and presentations from local, national and international artists. The school serves a wide range of students including both professional and novice artists, teachers and educators, school children, college students, seniors, architects and designers. The school provides all students with opportunities to experiment with tools and materials, in addition to providing opportunities to work on public art projects and mosaic restorations.
