Notable Alumni of School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Hugh Hefner 1926–2017

Founder of Playboy magazine

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, Northwest University

Spouse: Crystal Harris (San Diego State University)

Child: Cooper Hefner (Chapman University)

Orson Welles 1915–1985

Actor and filmmaker in film, radio and theatre

Georgia O'Keeffe 1887–1986

Modernist painter, Mother of American modernism

Also attended: Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York, Teachers College at Columbia University

Spouse: Alfred Stieglitz (CUNY--City College)

Sibling: Ida O'Keeffe (Columbia University in the City of New York, University of Virginia-Main Campus)

Ed Harris 1950–

Actor and director, three-time Oscar nominee

Also attended: California Institute of the Arts, Columbia University in the City of New York, University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus

Spouse: Amy Madigan (Roosevelt University, Marquette University)

Lara Flynn Boyle 1970–

Actress known for Twin Peaks

Kim Novak 1933–

Actress and two-time Golden Globe winner

Also attended: City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College

Grant Wood 1891–1942

Painter of American Gothic

Jeff Koons 1955–

Artist known for stainless steel sculptures

Also attended: Maryland Institute College of Art

Shulamith Firestone 1945–2012

Radical feminist writer and activist

Also attended: Washington University in St Louis

Shel Silverstein 1930–1999

Poet, cartoonist, songwriter and children's writer

Also attended: University of Chicago

Thomas Hart Benton 1889–1975

Painter and muralist of the Regionalist movement

Also attended: George Washington University, Kansas City Art Institute

Father: Maecenas Eason Benton (Saint Louis University)

Melinda Dillon 1939–2023

Actress, Tony-nominated for Virginia Woolf

Spouse: Richard Libertini (Emerson College)

Apichatpong Weerasethakul 1970–

Thai film director, screenwriter and producer

Bruce Boxleitner 1950–

Actor and science fiction and suspense writer

Richard Estes 1932–

Photorealist painter

Audrey Niffenegger 1963–

Writer and artist, author of The Time Traveler's Wife

Also attended: Northwestern University

Edward Gorey 1925–2000

Writer, illustrator and Tony Award-winning costume designer

Attended until 1943

Also attended: Harvard University

Wen Yiduo 1899–1946

Chinese poet and scholar

Gregory La Cava 1892–1952

Film director of My Man Godfrey

David Sedaris 1956–

Humorist, comedian and author

Also attended: Western Carolina University, Kent State University at Kent

Hong Sang-soo 1960–

South Korean film director and screenwriter

Joan Mitchell 1925–1992

Painter and printmaker of the New York School

Master's degree, Undergraduate degree · Fine art

Also attended: Smith College, Columbia University in the City of New York, New York University

Vachel Lindsay 1879–1931

Poet, founder of modern singing poetry

Also attended: Hiram College

Mark Tobey 1890–1976

Painter inspired by Asian calligraphy

Elisha Cook Jr. 1903–1995

Character actor famed for film noir

J. C. Leyendecker 1874–1951

German-American painter and illustrator

Nora Dunn 1952–

Actress and former Saturday Night Live cast member

Also attended: City College of San Francisco, The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago

Sibling: Kevin Dunn (Illinois Wesleyan University)

Anchee Min 1957–

Chinese-American author of Red Azalea

Shelley Berman 1925–2017

Comedian, won first Grammy for spoken comedy recording

Kenneth Rexroth 1905–1982

Poet and translator, San Francisco Renaissance figure

Gertrude Abercrombie 1909–1977

Chicago-based painter

Also attended: American Academy of Art College, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Haddon Sundblom 1899–1976

Artist known for Coca-Cola's Santa Claus images

Also attended: American Academy of Art College

Tania Bruguera 1968–

Cuban installation and performance artist

A. Y. Jackson 1882–1974

Canadian painter, founding member of Group of Seven

Halston 1932–1990

Fashion designer behind the Halston brand

John Steuart Curry 1897–1946

Painter known for rural Kansas scenes

Also attended: Kansas City Art Institute, Geneva College

Bill Mauldin 1921–2003

Two-time Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist

Ivan Albright 1897–1983

Painter, sculptor and printmaker, Magic Realist

Also attended: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Father: Adam Emory Albright (School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Frederick Carl Frieseke 1874–1939

Impressionist painter

Sarah Vowell 1969–

Writer, historian and radio personality

Also attended: Montana State University

Phil Karlson 1908–1985

Film director known for gritty crime films

Also attended: Loyola Marymount University

Son Seok-koo 1983–

South Korean actor, known for D.P

Nancy Spero 1926–2009

Visual artist known for political and feminist works

Spouse: Leon Golub (School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Chicago)

Ida Applebroog 1929–2023

Multimedia artist and MacArthur Fellow

John Chamberlain 1927–2011

Sculptor and filmmaker

LeRoy Neiman 1921–2012

American painter known for art of athletes and sporting events

Also attended: University of Chicago

Andrew Loomis 1892–1959

Illustrator, writer and art instructor

Don Herold 1889–1966

Humorist, writer, illustrator and cartoonist

Also attended: Indiana University-Bloomington

Wright Morris 1910–1998

Novelist and photographer

Also attended: Pomona College

Judianna Makovsky 1967–

Costume designer for The Hunger Games and Harry Potter

Also attended: Yale University

James Earle Fraser 1876–1953

American sculptor with works across Washington, D.C

Elizabeth Murray 1940–2007

Painter, printmaker and draughtsman

Also attended: Northeastern University Oakland

Spouse: Bob Holman (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Martin Nodell 1915–2006

Cartoonist and creator of Green Lantern

Also attended: Pratt Institute-Main

Burne Hogarth 1911–1996

Cartoonist known for the Tarzan comic strip

Also attended: City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College

Herblock 1909–2001

Editorial cartoonist, four-time Pulitzer winner

Also attended: Lake Forest College

Mary Beth Edelson 1933–2021

Artist and pioneer of the feminist art movement

Also attended: DePauw University, New York University

Richard Hunt 1935–2023

Sculptor of abstract and public sculpture

Also attended: University of Illinois at Chicago

Marisa Gonzalez 1943–

Spanish multimedia artist

Emil Ferris 1962–

Writer and cartoonist of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters

Lee Tzu-Tung

Taiwanese artist and director

Master's degree · Animation, New media art · Class of 2017

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Yale Gracey 1910–1983

Disney Imagineer and layout artist

Paul Chan 1973–

Hong Kong-born artist and writer