Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University

NSCAD has a long history of progressive art-making, dating back to the mid-1960’s when its campus was a haven for the conceptual art movement in North America. Located in Halifax, Nova Scotia is a coastal city with a highly diverse art scene, today the NSCAD community is filled with internationally recognized artists, designers, researchers, and scholars.

The university is not an average art school. From day one, students are trained to experiment with new methods and materials across disciplines. Students who thrive here are risk takers. Rule breakers. Explorers. The graduates are known both locally and internationally for their boundless energy and intense curiosity. Many have gone on to have incredible careers within and beyond the art world as entrepreneur, teachers, administrators, academics, and creative professionals in an array of different fields. While their paths may seem different, there is one thing they all share: NSCAD changed their lives.

NSCAD’s four-year undergraduate programs provide a diverse foundation of skills and knowledge in a specific art, design, or craft field. Students can earn a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Design, or a Bachelor of Fine Arts. A national leader in art education at the graduate level, NSCAD currently offers two graduate programs: Master of Fine Arts and Master of Design. The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Design is a 30-credit generalist design program that includes a mix of Studio and Liberal Arts and Science courses. The Visual Arts Certificate in Studio is available for students with an undergraduate degree who wish to study a new discipline. Certified Teachers can enroll in the Visual Arts Certificate for Teachers to strengthen their visual arts skills for teaching purposes.

Experiential learning gives students the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to real-world experiences apart from their academic environment. This valuable experience builds on their educational foundation, at the same time, confirming and clarifying career goals.

A sleek, modern warehouse perched on Halifax’s waterfront, the 70,000-square foot Port Campus is most recent addition. Internationally renowned MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects redesigned the historic steel and concrete structure, which now includes dramatic 18-foot ceilings, generous natural lighting, and houses many of NSCAD’s more industrial program components, including sculpture studios, a wood shop, metal shop, foundry, product design, and ceramics studios.

Built in 1878, this former high school, The Academy Campus is now home to Film program. It is also located right across from Citadel Hill, just a short walk away from the main Fountain Campus.