Chicago Mosaic School

The story

In 2005, artist Karen Ami realized American art academies largely ignored mosaic as a serious fine art medium, treating centuries of hammer-and-chisel technique like a secondary craft project. Instead of moving her practice to Italy, she began inviting international mosaic artists to teach small groups out of Chicago. What started as an informal studio gathering grew into North America's premier non-profit mosaic institution, eventually outgrowing its original Ravenswood footprint and relocating to a purpose-built facility on Granville Avenue in Edgewater.

You won't find kitschy broken-plate craft projects here. The school focuses on classical and contemporary discipline, training students on the traditional hardie and hammer, Venetian smalti glass, cut stone, and stained glass. Before you step inside, look up at the exterior facade: it features 'The Edge of The Water,' a 150-square-foot mosaic panel hand-built by local faculty and volunteers using glass, smalti, and gold leaf. Inside, the space houses active teaching classrooms, private artist studios, a supply shop, and the affiliated Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics (GoCM).

It operates as a rare working ecosystem where visiting international masters host multi-day intensives alongside weekend beginner workshops. You didn't hear it from us, but if you want to bypass cookie-cutter art stops, this quiet stretch of Granville is where serious tile-and-glass craft is preserved and practiced in real time.