Canadian Top Art School: Ontario College of Art & Design

Ontario College of Art & Design is a public university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is adjacent to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Founded in 1876, the school is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. In 2002, OCAD received official status to confer the degrees of Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Design in addition to its four-year diploma in art and design. The school was transitioned into the status of a university in 2010.

OCAD U is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. The fields are various ranging from digital media and design, sustainability, health and wellness to cultural diversity and indigenous cultures. The university continuously builds on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. The staff and members of this big community are best qualified to act as a catalyst for the innovations in culture and technology.

The students of the university have opportunity to engage in creative studio-based, aesthetic and technical learning, as well as critical, theoretical, scientific and historical knowledge and methods. It offers courses through the Faculties of Art, Design, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and alternative programs.

Faculty of Art

The Faculty of Art joins practice to theory and studio production to interdisciplinary inquiry that merges analog and digital media and illuminates the intersections of art practice, technology and social space. There are four administrative clusters of programs of study in the Faculty of Art: Contemporary Painting and Print Media, Media and Installation Art, Cross-Disciplinary Art Practices, and First Year.

Faculty of Design

Faculty of Design enables students to develop their own ideas and express them through verbal and visual language. This profession is for those who desire to gain knowledge and skills necessary for innovation. The university offers a provocative, diverse and culturally rich environment that encourages students to think critically, responsively and innovatively.

The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and School of Interdisciplinary Studies

Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences courses explore the theories and ideas informing art and design practice, provide an historical and critical dimension to studio work in art and design. The curriculum covers a broad range of disciplines, from visual culture to the natural sciences. While the School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers programs that afford students the opportunity to choose a path that crosses disciplinary boundaries and integrates leading-edge approaches with traditional art and design disciplines.

The university offers various undergraduate and graduate degrees:

Undergraduate Programs equip students with the analytical skills they need to execute ideas within the studio. There are such courses as Advertising, Criticism & Curatorial Practice, Cross-Disciplinary Art: Life Studies, Cross-Disciplinary Art: Publications, Digital Futures, Drawing & Painting, Drawing & Painting: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation, Environmental Design, Environmental Design: Interior Design Specialization, Graphic Design, Illustration, Indigenous Visual Culture, Industrial Design, Integrated Media Program, Integrated Media: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation, Material Art & Design, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture/Installation, Social Innovation Design Pathway, Visual and Critical Studies.

Graduate programs give opportunity to practice with expert faculty, in studios, labs and through exceptional internships, delivering advanced experiential learning. The programs include Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories, Criticism & Curatorial Practice, Design for Health, Digital Futures, Inclusive Design, and Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design.

Famous Alumni

OCAD U’s alumni include world famous artists, actors, designers, authors, painters sculptors among them Richard Fung, Maurice Vellekoop, Dick Wilson, Barbara Astman, Floria Sigismondi, Michael Snow, Barbara Howard, Kelly Richardson, David Blackwood and so on.