ACAD set to expand programs, make national inroads
It’s where art, culture and education collide producing innovative thinkers, creative problem solvers and visually talented students.
The 86-year-old Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) provides a studiobased experience for students in fine art, design and new media, creating an experience that is unprecedented among post-secondary educational institutions in the province.
Students at ACAD study and explore an arts education in a wide variety of specializations from painting, sculpture and print media to ceramics, jewelry and media arts.
“We have 26 post-secondary institutions in Alberta, but there are only four like us in all of Canada,” says ACAD president and CEO Daniel Doz. “In Canada, we are the only college that can provide a bachelor’s degree and soon, we are anticipating a master’s as well.”
The school is accredited to grant bachelor of fine arts degrees and bachelor of design degrees and is in the process of earning the right to grant master’s degrees. It has also been given Foreign-Equivalency Status by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, which means degrees are recognized as equivalent in post-secondary institutions throughout North America.
“Our playing field is the world,” says Doz.
“We are really concentrating on engaging the country and becoming even more embedded in our local community.”
Through partnering with local organizations and businesses and extending continuing education opportunities to those who would not typically have access to an art school, ACAD has done just that. About 3,000 students are registered each year in extended studies courses, including 400 children and teens.
The college employs more than 150 staff and provides accredited degree-standard education and learning opportunities to more than 1,000 students enrolled in full- and part-time studies.
“People often struggle to define us either a cultural institution or an educational institution,” says Doz. “But I would say we’re an educational institution within a cultural context. Our students are storytellers who express themselves through a variety of vehicles, and that really sets us apart.”