More Speech: A Conversation about the First Amendment

For more than 200 years, First Amendment issues have impacted art and civic life through political cartoons, charged speech, culture wars, and the images posted on social media platforms today. What is considered protected speech, and who gets to speak? What is the role or impact of art on our First Amendment freedoms? 

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), in partnership with the American Library Association and Illinois Library Association, will host a panel discussion examining how the First Amendment impacts our freedom of speech and expression. Moderated by former WGN-TV anchor Robert Jordan, “More Speech: A Conversation about the First Amendment” will feature the diverse perspectives of artists, journalists, historians, librarians, legal professionals, and civic leaders. “More Speech” is SAIC’s third annual Citizen Artist Forum, a public dialogue that explores how art and design intersect with issues of civic concern. The event will be livestreamed at locations throughout Illinois.

Panelists
–Jeremy Biles, assistant professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago 
–Colleen K. Connell, executive director, American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois
–Jamie Kalven, journalist, human rights activist, and executive director, Invisible Institute
–David Kohn, executive director of public affairs, Union League Club of Chicago
–Diana Brawley Sussman, director, Carbondale Public Library

Statewide livestream details
Attendees are welcome to attend the discussion via any of our livestreaming locations:
–Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum—212 N. Sixth St., multipurpose room, Springfield, Illinois
–Southern Illinois University, Carbondale—605 Agriculture Dr., Morris Library Auditorium, Carbondale, Illinois 
–Shawnee Community College Education Center—8364 Shawnee College Rd., Ullin, Illinois

Statewide art competition
As part of this initiative, SAIC is working with the Illinois Arts Education Association to engage students in art and design education and practice from several Illinois high schools in Alexander, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Union, and Williamson counties.

Participating high school students will watch “More Speech: A Conversation about the First Amendment” panel discussion on October 1, and submit a creative response (visual, oral, or written) on the topic. Students with the best responses will be invited to attend SAIC’s two-week Early College Program Summer Institute, an immersive college experience taught by SAIC faculty and working artists, at no cost. These students will learn to live and work among world-class artists and designers in Chicago. 

Additionally, student artwork will be displayed in Illinois Capitol Rotunda during Illinois Arts Week, and SAIC will collaborate with local partners to create a traveling exhibition of student work featured in downstate art galleries and in Chicago.

About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alums and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons and LeRoy Neiman.