Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private

art college An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

in Pasadena, California.

History

ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935,

Fred R. Archer Fred Robert Archer (December 3, 1889 – April 27, 1963), was an American photographer who collaborated with Ansel Adams to create the Zone System. He was a Portrait photography, portrait photographer, specializing early in his career in port ...

founded the photography department, and Ansel Adams was a guest instructor in the late 1930s. During and after World War II, ArtCenter ran a technical illustration program in conjunction with the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. In 1947, the post-war boom in students caused the school to expand to a larger location in the building of the former Cumnock School for Girls in the

Hancock Park Hancock Park is a city park in the Miracle Mile section of the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The park's destinations include the La Brea Tar Pits; the adjacent George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, which displ ...

neighborhood, while still maintaining a presence at its original downtown location. The school began granting Bachelor's and

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in arts in 1949, and was fully accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Sam ...

in 1955. In 1965, the school changed its name to Art Center College of Design. The school expanded its programs, including a film program in 1973. The school moved to the Hillside Campus in Pasadena in 1976. The school operated ArtCenter Europe in

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...

, Switzerland from 1986 to 1996. In 2003, ArtCenter was granted

Non-Governmental Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

status by the UN Department of Public Information. ArtCenter opened the South Campus in Pasadena in 2004. In 2019, ArtCenter revealed they exceeded their $100 million goal when their fundraising campaign for additional scholarships and expanding their south campus started in 2011. ArtCenter raised $124 million from more than 7,000 contributions. ArtCenter celebrated their 90th anniversary on April 16, 2020. The planned celebration was rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Academics

ArtCenter offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide variety of art and design fields, as well as public programs for children and high school students, and continuing studies for adults in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

metro area. It is one of the few schools to offer a degree in Interaction Design. The college maintains two campuses in Pasadena; both are considered architecturally notable. ArtCenter built its reputation as a

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the task ...

, preparing returning

G.I. G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Force and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or " ...

s for work in the commercial arts fields and began awarding degrees in 1949. In recognition of Art Center's commitment to addressing social and humanitarian issues through design, 2003 saw ArtCenter become the first design college to ever receive NGO (non-governmental organization) status by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. The college logo is an orange circle, also known as the ArtCenter "Dot," which has been a part of the school's identity since its inception by founder Tink Adams and a small number of colleagues. ArtCenter is accredited by the

and the

National Association of Schools of Art and Design The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees ...

Rankings

While art and design schools aren't regularly included in typical undergraduate rankings such as "U.S. News & World Report," ArtCenter has been recognized by a number of national and industry publications. The college's undergraduate and graduate industrial design programs are consistently ranked number one by ''DesignIntelligence.'' '' U.S. News & World Report'' also ranks Art Center's Art, Industrial Design and Media Design Practices programs among the top 20 graduate schools in the U.S. Most recently, the growing influence of Art Center's Film programs resulted in the college's ranking among ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

's'' list of the Top 25 Global Film Schools. In 2014,

Money magazine ''Money'' is an American personal finance brand and website owned by Ad Practitioners LLC and formerly also a monthly magazine, first published by Time Inc. (1972–2018) and later by Meredith Corporation (2018–2019). Its articles cover the ...

ranked Art Center third on its list of 25 of the best college values and in 2013, Coroflot's 2013 Creative Employment Snapshot respondents showed Art Center alumni earning more compared to peer institutions. In 2021, ArtCenter was ranked the tenth globally according to the QS World University Rankings by the subject Art and Design.

Facilities

ArtCenter College of Design maintains two campuses in Pasadena: Hillside Campus and South Campus.

Hillside Campus

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

architect

Craig Ellwood Craig Ellwood (April 22, 1922 – May 30, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career ...

, the Hillside Campus broke ground in November 1974. The "

bridge building A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

" spanned an arroyo and roadway on in the hills above Pasadena. Opening in 1976, the building was later expanded with the south wing, designed by former Ellwood associate James Tyler, and constructed between 1989 and 1991. The Hillside Campus houses classrooms and studio space, multiple computer labs, the James Lemont Fogg Memorial Library, a model shop with traditional tools as well as rapid prototyping technologies (multi-axis CNC, laser-cutting, and multiple types of 3D printing), painting facilities, the Color, Material, and Trends Exploration Lab (CMTEL), an (Auto) Interior Simulation Lab, the Sinclaire Pavilion, photo and film stages with printing and editing facilities, and both a curated student gallery and an external exhibit gallery, both open to the public. The Hillside Campus has been designated as a historic monument by the City of Pasadena.

South Campus

The South Campus opened in 2004 in a former aircraft-testing facility built during World War II. Renovated by the Santa Monica-based firm Daly Genik, it houses the graduate Art and the Media Design Practices programs and studios, exhibition space for both of those programs, a print shop, a letterpress studio, and public programs such as ArtCenter at Night, ArtCenter for Kids, Design-Based Learning Lab. There is an exhibition space known as the Wind Tunnel, which is currently the home of the Media Design Practices program. The Wind Tunnel has hosted events including the biannual ArtCenter Design Conference, like 2006's "Radical Craft" and 2008's "Serious Play"; an annual Summit on Sustainable Mobility; large exhibitions such as "Supersonic: 1 Wind Tunnel, 8 Schools, 120 Artists", "Gardenlab", and "Open House: Architecture and Technology for Intelligent Living" (with

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...

); and various community meetings and events. In 2012, ArtCenter announced the expansion of South Campus with the acquisition of a former U.S. Postal Service property adjacent to the existing campus, made entirely possible through the college's philanthropic efforts. At that time, the college appointed Michael Maltzan Architecture as its partner in planning academic spaces and expansion of its educational resources. With this agreement still intact, actual renovation of the former USPS building was completed by Darin Johnstone Architecture in 2014. Also in 2014, ArtCenter announced the acquisition of an office building at the "gateway" to Pasadena and future plans for new student housing, all of which will elevate South Campus from a "satellite" location to equal programs and activities found at the Hillside Campus. In 2014, ArtCenter announced a $2 million gift to establish the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography “to advance the research, teaching and understanding of letterform design.” The center is named after 20-year Art Center typography teacher Leah Toby Hoffmitz Milken and the establishing gift was made by the Lowell Milken Family Foundation.

Notable people

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ArtCenter College Of Design 1930 establishments in California Animation schools in the United States Art in Greater Los Angeles Art schools in California Buildings and structures in Pasadena, California Design schools in the United States Education in Pasadena, California Educational institutions established in 1930 Graphic design schools in the United States Private universities and colleges in California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California Film schools in California Art museums and galleries in California