The Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago is part of The Art Institutes, a system of for-profit proprietary colleges focusing on creative industries. The Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago offers bachelor's degree or associates degree for several programs including: fashion, interior design, visual communication/graphic design and other media arts, and culinary arts with an enrollment of 3500 students. The school is located in two facilities in Chicago, Illinois, the Mart campus being in the West Mart Center of the Merchandise Mart complex. The Loop campus is located on the corner of Lake and Wabash. The Loop campus houses classes for media (graphic design, interactive media, digital film-making, videogames) and culinary programs while the Mart campus houses most of administration, library, and classes for fashion and interior design programs. The Loop campus features a student-run restaurant called "The Backstage Bistro". The Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago was founded in 1916 as The Commercial Art School, which was one of the first applied art and design colleges in the United States. Three years later, William F.