The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale is a former for-profit art and culinary school in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

which closed in 2018. The school was one of a number of

Art Institutes The Art Institutes (AI) are a collection of private for-profit art schools in the United States. Since 2019, the schools have been owned by Education Principle Foundation (aka Colbeck Foundation), a non-profit that also owns South Universi ...

, a franchise of for-profit art colleges with many branches in North America, owned and operated by

Education Management Corporation Education Management Corporation (EDMC) was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based operator of for-profit post-secondary educational institutions in the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1962. At its peak in 2011, Education Managem ...

(EDMC). EDMC owned the college from 1973 until 2017, when, facing declining enrollment, multiple fraud charges brought by faculty and students, and accreditation issues at some of its schools, the company sold the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, along with other properties, to Dream Center Education, a Los Angeles-based Pentecostal organization. Dream Center Education planned to operate the school, along with others it acquired, as a non-profit. The plan proved unsustainable, with Dream Center permanently closing 18 Art Institute schools, including Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, at the end of 2018.

History

Beginning

The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale was envisioned and realized by George P Butterly under Mark K. Wheeler, owner and officially opened for admission in September 1968 in eastern

Las Olas Boulevard Las Olas Boulevard is a major east-west thoroughfare in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alab ...

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

. Butterly established location, recruited staff, provided advertisement and news stories across the country to entice students to attend the Art Institute in the Ft Lauderdale area. It would be the second Art Institute establishment following the

Art Institute of Pittsburgh The Art Institute of Pittsburgh was a private college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shortly before closing in 2019, it was purchased by Dream Center Education Holdings (in turn a division of The Dream Center, a Christian non-profit 501(c)(3) or ...

, founded in 1921 where Butterly initially was head of public relations and who helped build the Art Institute brand; initially only offering

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

s in Commercial Art, Interior Design, and Fashion Illustration and remaining unaccredited. This status would span a duration of 18 months until in April 1971 when the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

would be granted

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the Accrediting Commission for Trade and Technical Schools of the Career College Association. Two years later, in November 1973, the school was purchased from Wheeler by the

(EDMC).History
. ''https://www.artinstitutes.edu/fort-lauderdale''. Retrieved 08-14-2008

Growth

In February 1975, two years after its purchase by the EDMC, the school became licensed by the State Board of Independent Postsecondary Vocational, Technical, Trade, and Business Schools. It wouldn't be for another four years in 1979, however, that the

State of Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

officially recognized the school and gave it authorization to award

Associate of Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. Th ...

degrees. For the next seven years, the college did not see any significant changes, until in May 1986 when the decision was made to relocate the school from Las Olas Boulevard to 1799 SE 17th Street. The following year, the State Board of Independent Colleges and Universities granted the school authorization to award

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

s and in 1989, the college broadened its facilities at 1650 SE 17 Street; establishing the modern campus it had until closing.

Campus

The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

offered programs in Design, Media Arts, Culinary and Fashion, and had a student-run

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

named the Chef's Palette. The school's library was the Nevin C. Meinhardt Memorial Library and its gallery, which was open to the public, is named after the school's founder, Mark K. Wheeler.

Accreditation and licensing

Institutional accreditation

"The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale was a senior college accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools to award diplomas, associate’s degrees, and bachelor’s degrees."Accreditation
. ''aifl.edu''. Retrieved 08-14-2008

Programmatic accreditation

* The Bachelor of Science program in Interior Design was accredited b
the Council for Interior Design Accreditation
formerly known as FIDER. * The Associate of Science and Bachelor of Science Degrees in Culinary Arts was accredited by The

American Culinary Federation The American Culinary Federation (ACF) was established in 1929 in New York City and is the largest professional chefs' organization in North America. It was the progeny of the combined visions of three chefs' associations in New York City, the Soc ...

Foundation (ACF)

Notable alumni

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– semi-professional porn and reality TV star. * David Diaz – children's book illustrator. *

Tony DiTerlizzi Tony M. DiTerlizzi (born September 6, 1969) is an American fantasy artist, children's book creator, and motion picture producer. In the gaming industry, he is best known for his work in the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering'' and on ...

– fantasy artist known for his work in the Spiderwick Chronicles. *

Sam Fogarino Samuel Joseph Fogarino (born August 9, 1968) is the drummer of the band Interpol. He has played in bands such as the Holy Terrors, Gus, the Wahoos, Napoleon Solo, the Ton-ups and the Last Night. Biography Fogarino began to play the drums at the ...

– drummer of Interpol. * Carol Guzy – four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist. *

Elia Locardi Elia Locardi (born July 13, 1980) is an American photographer specialized in travel photography, landscape photography, aerial photography and videography. He is also a photography blogger, educator, speaker and entrepreneur. Locardi often works to ...

– travel photographer. * Lisa Pickens Quinn – actress, author and set designer. *

Roy Rossello Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

– former member of Latin boy band Menudo, singer, actor, host and businessman. *

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

– fashion designer and professional tennis player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, The

Educational institutions established in 1968 Education in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Defunct private universities and colleges in Florida 1968 in art 1968 establishments in Florida Educational institutions disestablished in 2018 2018 disestablishments in Florida