Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-educational instutiton that operates which operates four academic faculties, the Faculty of Culture + Community, the Ian Gillespie Faculty of Design + Dynamic Media, the Audian Faculty of Art, and the Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies. The school was established in 1925 as the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts. During the 20th century, the school was renamed three times, the Vancouver School of Art in 1933, the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in 1978, and the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design in 1995. The university was able to issue its own degrees by 1994 and began offering its first graduate programs in 2003. In 2008, the institution was designated as a special purpose teaching university under the province's '' University Act''.

History

Emily Carr is one of the oldest post-secondary institutions in British Columbia and the only one dedicated to professional education and learning in the arts, media, and design. Formerly known as the Vancouver School of Art, it was established in 1925 as the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts. In 1978, ECU was designated a provincial institute before moving to Granville Island in 1980. A second building on Granville Island was opened in 1995. In 1995, ECU was granted authority to offer bachelor's degrees—BFAs and BDes—and honorary degrees: honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.), honorary Doctor of Laws (D.Laws), and honorary Doctor of Technology (D.Technology). In 1997, ECU was granted authority to offer Bachelor of Media Arts degrees (BMA). In 2006, ECI launched a Master of Applied Arts (MAA), and opened the Intersections Digital Studio. In 2007, the Great Northern Way consortium made up of Emily Carr, UBC, SFU and BCIT launched the Master of Digital Media program (MDM) at the Great Northern Way Campus. Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design's

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. H ...

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

, and badge were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on April 20, 2007. On April 28th, 2008, the Provincial Government announced that it would amend the ''University Act'' at the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

and recognize Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design as a full university, which would be named Emily Carr University of Art and Design. The university began its operation under the new name on September 1, 2008. On September 5, 2017, the university moved from its home on Granville Island to a new campus at 520 East 1st Avenue, near Great Northern Way between Main and Clark streets. The purpose-built building was a former industrial site of

Finning International Finning is a Canadian industrial equipment dealer specializing in Caterpillar Inc., Caterpillar products. It is responsible for selling, renting and providing parts and service for equipment and engines to customers in industries including mini ...

, and is in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of East Vancouver. In 2019 the University's library became a fine-free institution in order to improve patron behaviour and the experience of students.

Campus

The university's campus is located within a four-storey building completed in Strathcona, Vancouver. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects and completed by EllisDon in 2017, the building houses informal gather spaces, exhibition spaces and studios; and three lecture theatres, including one 400-seat venue. The exterior facade of the building has white metal panels and glass reminiscent of a blank canvas, as well as a back-painted glass spandrel panels to evoke a sequence of colour and transition of an artistic colour palette. The colour palette was selected by Emily Carr faculty member Landon Mackenzie and another colleague. The colours were selected in honour of the painter Emily Carr. Several First Nations design elements were also incorporated into the building's design. The university campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus, a property that is equally shared with four other postsecondary institutions. The Great Northern Way Campus is an property owned by the Great Northern Way Trust, a company that Emily Carr University, the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia are all equal shareholders in. The larger Great Northern Way Campus also houses facilities used by the other three postsecondary institutions. The Centre for Digital Media is an institution located on the Great Northern Way Campus that is managed by the four partner universities.

Academics

Emily Carr specializes in

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

, photography, new media, visual arts, media, interactive media, animation, industrial design, product design, ceramics, sculpture, communication design, illustration and

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

. Degree programs include: * Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cultural and Critical Practices, Illustration, Photography, or Visual Arts. Visual arts majors can choose to specialize in painting, ceramics, drawing, print media, or sculpture and extended practices. * Bachelor of Design in Communication Design, Interaction Design or

Industrial Design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

. * Bachelor of Media Arts in Animation, Film and Screen Arts, or New Media and Sound Arts. * Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts. * Master of Design with

Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

and User Experience (UX) options.

Research

In November 2009, Emily Carr University teamed up with Lucasfilm spinoff, Kerner Studios, to announce the establishment of a stereoscopic 3-D research studio. In 2014, Canada Research Chairs

Garnet Hertz Garnet Hertz (born 1973) is a Canadian artist, designer and academic. Hertz is Canada Research Chair in Design and Media Art and is known for his electronic artworks and for his research in the areas of ''critical making'' and DIY culture. Work ...

and Amber Frid-Jimenez joined Emily Carr, making it the first art and design institution in the country with Canada Research Chairs. In 2015, a third Canada Research Chair joined the university until leaving in 2021.

Arms

Notable people

Alumni

* Kate Ali *

Unity Bainbridge Unity Bainbridge (July 6, 1916 – November 30, 2017) was a Canadian artist and writer of poetry inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and its landscape. Personal life Unity Bainbridge was born in Victoria, British C ...

Arnold Belkin Arnold Belkin (December 9, 1930 – July 3, 1992) was a Canadian- Mexican painter credited for continuing the Mexican muralism tradition at a time when many Mexican painters were shifting away from it. Born and raised in western Canada, he ...

Alexandra Bischoff Alexandra Bischoff (born 1991 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian artist who works primarily in performance, with an emphasis on sexuality and feminism. She lives and works in Montréal, Quebec. Life and education Bischoff received a Fine Art D ...

* Phillip Borsos * Molly Lamb Bobak *

Emily Kai Bock Emily Kai Bock (born 1983 or 1984) is a Canadian writer and film director. In 2017, her short film '' A Funeral for Lightning'' was included in TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list of the top 10 Canadian short films of the year, selected by a pane ...

Annie Briard Annie Briard is a Canadian intermedia visual artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her video, photographic, and installation-based work explores the intersections of perceptual paradigms between psychology, neuroscience and existentialism, c ...

Karin Bubaš Karin Bubaš (born 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a contemporary Canadian artist known for her work in various media including photography, painting, and drawing. Early life Bubaš grew up in North Vancouver and graduated from Emily Ca ...

Arabella Campbell Arabella Campbell is a Canadian artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 1996, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (renamed ...

* Neko Case * Douglas Coupland *

Stan Douglas Stan Douglas (born October 11, 1960) is an artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Douglas' film and video installations, photography and work in television frequently touch on the history of literature, cinema and music, while examining t ...

Kevin Eastwood Kevin Eastwood is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and film and television producer. He is best known for directing the CBC Television documentaries '' Humboldt: The New Season'' and '' After the Sirens'' and the Knowledge Network series '' Em ...

* Geoffrey Farmer * Ann Marie Fleming *

Tommy Genesis Genesis Yasmine Mohanraj, known by her stage name Tommy Genesis, is a Canadian rapper. In 2016, ''Dazed'' magazine described her as "the internet's most rebellious underground rap queen". Her music incorporates experimental style and often sexu ...

Angela Grossmann Angela Grossmann (born 1955) is a Canadian artist, known for her oil paintings and mixed media collages. Her works range from simplistic drawings to rendering of the human body by layering torn and manipulated photos of body parts. Early life a ...

Colleen Heslin Colleen Heslin (born 1976) is a Canadian mixed-media artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Heslin works predominantly with textiles and quilting to create an abstract compositions. Personal life Heslin was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Lo ...

E. J. Hughes Edward John Hughes D.F.A., D.Litt. (February 17, 1913 – January 5, 2007) was a Canadian painter, known for his images of the land and sea in British Columbia. Early career Hughes was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and sp ...

Carole Itter Carole Itter (born September 29, 1939) is a Canadian artist, writer, performer and filmmaker. Life Itter attended the Vancouver School of Art in 1961, which was renamed as the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 1978 and then renamed agai ...

Donald Jarvis Don Jarvis (1923–2001) was a Canadian abstract painter. Career Born in Vancouver in 1923, Don Jarvis took up drawing at an early age. An aspiring cartoonist as a teenager, Jarvis enrolled at the Vancouver School of Art in 1941 and was encou ...

* Lynn Johnston *

Brian Jungen Brian Jungen (born April 29, 1970 in Fort St. John, British Columbia) is an artist of Dane-zaa and Swiss ancestry living and working in the North Okanagan of British Columbia.Hoffmann, Jens. "Brian Jungen: Prototypes for New Understanding ." ''Flas ...

Ann Kipling Ann Kipling L.L.D (1934 August30, 2023) was a Canadian artist who created impressionistic portraits and landscapes in drawings and prints on paper from direct observation. Kipling's distinctive style of overlapping, temporally suggestive line ...

Terence Koh Terence Koh (born 1977 in Beijing, China ) is a Canadian artist who has also worked under the alias "asianpunkboy". The artist's work spans a range of media, including drawing, sculpture, video, performance, and the internet. Originally workin ...

* Brian Kokoska * Attila Richard Lukacs * Julian Lawrence *

Irene Luxbacher Irene Luxbacher (born December 10, 1970, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian artist, an author and children's book illustrator. After graduating with a degree in Art History from Queen's University, she studied Fine Art (specifically drawing and ...

Jeannie Mah Jeannie Mah (born 1952) is a Canadian ceramic artist who is known for creating ceramic vessels that function as thought-provoking sculptures. Education Mah was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and attended the University of Regina where she recei ...

* Sara Mameni * Annie Liu * Dandilion Wind Opaine * Frank Palmer *

Jack Shadbolt Jack Leonard Shadbolt, (February 4, 1909 November 22, 1998) was a Canadian painter. Early life Born in Shoeburyness, England, Shadbolt came to Canada with his parents in April 1911. He was raised in Victoria, British Columbia. He studied at t ...

Edith L. Sharp Edith Lambert Sharp (March 7, 1911 – July 2, 1974) was a Canadian professional woman, writing teacher, and writer. She won the annual Governor General's Award for juvenile fiction in 1958, recognizing the historical novel ''Nkwala'' as the year' ...

* Jeremy Shaw * Elise Siegel *

Heather Spears Heather Spears (September 29, 1934 - April 15, 2021) was a Canadians, Canadian-born poet, novelist, artist, sculptor, and educator. She resided in Denmark from 1962 until her death in Copenhagen in 2021. She returned to Canada annually to conduct ...

* Jeff Chiba Stearns *

Merike Talve Merike Talve (January 31, 1957 – November 27, 1997) was a Canadian curator, artist and independent writer who lived and worked in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her body of work was centred on Contemporary Artists exhibiting in Vancouver ...

* Ronald Thom *

Renée Van Halm Renée Van Halm is a Canadian contemporary visual artist born in Haarlemmermeer, the Netherlands (1949) and immigrated to Canada in 1953. Exhibitions Renée Van Halm has been featured in over 30 solo exhibitions including numerous exhibitions ...

Ola Volo Ola Volo is a Kazakh Canadian artist, best known as a public muralist. Her style blends aspects of Eastern European folk art with a focus on pattern and narrative to depict fantasy scenes. Born in Kazakhstan, she moved to Canada with her family at ...

Joy Zemel Long Joy Zemel Long (August 16, 1922 – September 16, 2018) was a Canadian painter who lived in West Vancouver, British Columbia. Zemel grew up in Vancouver and attended the Vancouver School of Art (later renamed the Emily Carr University of Art and ...

Faculty and emeriti

Gina Adams Gina Adams (born 1965) is an American interdisciplinary artist and activist. Family Gina Adams' parents were Philip F. Adams (1937–2002), born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Elaine Rose Theriault Adams who lived in Kittery, Maine. Her fami ...

Julie Andreyev Julie Andreyev (born 1962) is a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores themes of animal agency and consciousness. Her ongoing ''Animal Lover'' work explores nonhuman animal agency and creativity through modes of interspe ...

* Marian Penner Bancroft *

Ron Burnett Ron Burnett (born 1947) is an author, professor and the President Emeritus and Research Director for the new Centre for Transdisciplinary Studies at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Education Burnett was born 24 May 1947 in London, Engl ...

Peg Campbell Peg Campbell is a Canadian filmmaker. She is most noted for her short films '' It's a Party!'', which was a Genie Award nominee for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 8th Genie Awards, and '' In Search of the Last Good Man'', which won the same ...

Randy Lee Cutler Randy Lee Cutler (born 1964) is a writer, academic, educator and artist working in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has a PhD in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art. She currently works as a Professor at Emily Carr University of Art and ...

* Maria Hupfield (Wasauksing Ojibwe) * Landon Mackenzie * Sandra Semchuk *

Gregory Scofield Gregory Scofield (born July 20, 1966 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geograp ...

(Métis) * Durwin Talon *

Henry Tsang Henry Shiu-Lung Tsang (born 6 November 1943; ) is an Australian architect, politician and formerly a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1999 until his resignation effective 3 December 2009. Early years Tsang ...

* Frederick Varley * Ian Wallace *

Rita Wong Rita Wong (born 1968) is a Canadian poet. Biography Wong grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and currently lives in the unceded Coast Salish territories also known as Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the author of multiple books of poetry, includi ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1925 1925 establishments in Canada Universities and colleges in Vancouver Colleges in British Columbia Art schools in Canada