The College of Visual and Performing Arts offers one of the nation’s largest concentrations of visual and performing arts courses. Established in 1965, the college has campuses in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Washington D. C., and Los Angeles, California. Offering a solid foundation for a wide ranging understanding of visual arts, this academic major emphasizes the aesthetics of visual design and effective use of technology for an exciting, involved, and engaging experience. Students will learn technical and artistic skills, including basic design principles, computer art production, animation, and graphic design, to develop original artistic creations in the digital world. While instilling a valuable appreciation for the visual arts, these courses also encourage students to think critically and creatively, producing valuable artwork and valuable discussions.
Unlike traditional colleges and universities, the College of Visual and Performing Arts does not limit the number of students who may participate in their courses. Students can sign up for up to five course sequences at CDPA. Combining a large number of disciplines and interdisciplinary curriculum, these courses are ideal for students preparing to enter the field as artists or technicians, or for anyone interested in a broadening of their interests or career direction. For the professional artist, the college offers a host of creative writing workshops, seminars on the internet, and one-on-one tutoring. For technicians, there are courses in electronic media, industrial design, graphic design, photography, video art, and computer aided design.
In Los Angeles, CA, the Academy of Art University offers a program in digital art education. The school, which is affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, specializes in training students to work in digital graphics, visual communications, and performance. Unlike other schools, the school prefers to cultivate future artists through on-campus apprenticeship programs, online courses, live-tutoring, and studio demonstrations. The program is designed around the vision of creating original, creative work, and they strongly encourage teamwork among its faculty members. As part of their vision and mission, the school emphasizes that its graduates will become leaders of tomorrow’s media and visual arts communities.
The Berlant Institute of Design and Graphic Arts in Boston, MA offers a Bachelor of Science in Visual and Performing Arts. While most of the courses are general liberal arts, art history, digital art, and visual communication, students are encouraged to explore areas of their choice that will allow them to express their creativity. Classes offered at this four-year university are led by Associate Dean of Arts Joseph Cappuccio, who has served as the university’s artistic director since 1998. Recent graduates have included artists like Jamie Fox, Matthew McConaughey, and director J. Wes Smith.
Mary Ellenicek and Peter Fox, founders of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington, D.C. offer a program of study known as the “Masters of Modern Art” program. This program was created to support young people interested in both the visual and performing arts. Artists in this program must agree to work for two years with a museum, and they may also choose to work as an artist-in-residence. The “Masters” program seeks to encourage participants to develop their own style and to pursue personal goals within the framework of contemporary art. In this way, it allows students to experiment with form while gaining experience and intuition about the process of visual culture.
Students studying the Bachelor of Arts in Audio Visual and Interimedia Production at the University of California, Santa Barbara can create shorts films, distribute web content, or design television ads. George Calombaris, professor and Chair of Audio Visual and Interimedia Production at U.C. Santa Barbara, directs students through the process of conceptualizing a product or a concept, researching marketable concepts, preparing a marketing plan, screening an idea, and finally producing the final product. George brings much knowledge about video production, electronic media, graphic design, music, and computer aided design to the audio visualization department at the School of Audio and Visual Arts.
