VanArts

Vancouver Institute of Media Arts
Type Open
Established 1995 (1995)
President Alan Phillips
Location Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Campus 600 - 570 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC Canada, V6B 1Y1
Nickname VanArts
Affiliations PCTIA, BCCCA
Website vanarts.com

Vancouver Institute of Media Arts (VanArts) is a private post-secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada founded in 1995. VanArts has a campus on Dunsmuir street in Downtown Vancouver consisting of four floors of the building at 600 - 570 Dunsmuir Street. Originally focusing only on classical animation, VanArts started with veteran animator/director Lee Mishkin, winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1970 with Is It Always Right to Be Right?, as its founding program director.

Animation Career Review ranked VanArts as #1 in Western Canada and #11 in the world for animation training in 2012. The strength of VanArts' one-year diploma programs was highly regarded alongside prestigious universities and 4-year degree programs.[1] This list was compiled through a mixture of school reviews, industry-reviewed lists like The Princeton Review, and survey of animation industry professionals from companies such as Pixar and Dreamworks.

VanArts is accredited through the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA).[2]

History

VanArts was founded in 1995 with Academy-Award winning animator/director Lee Mishkin as its founding program director.[3] VanArts has a variety of highly focused diploma programs designed to prepare students to be a skilled and specialized workforce in specific areas of the media arts including Visual Effects Production, Game Asset Design, Character Animation, Digital Photography, Acting for Film & Television, Web Development and Broadcasting.

The first campus for VanArts was on West Broadway street in Vancouver, and by 1998 it had moved downtown to 837 Beatty Street. Originally offering programs for classical and computer animation, the school expanded to offer Game Art & Design in 2003 and Visual Effects in 2004. Upon adding the first Digital Photography program in North America in 2006, VanArts needed to expand and moved to a new campus at 626 West Pender Street. In 2008, the William Davis Centre for Actors Study joined up with VanArts and became its Acting department. Another move happened in 2010 to its current location at 570 Dunsmuir Street. 2011 brought new departments for Web Development & Interactive Design, and the addition of Broadcasting for Radio & Television from the esteemed faculty of Columbia Academy School of Broadcast Arts.

2011 also marked VanArts’ first degree pathway agreement with Woodbury University[4] in Burbank, CA, soon to be followed by further pathways with Deakin University[5] in Melbourne, Australia, Bond University[6] and Griffith University[7] in Queensland, Australia, Media Design School[8] in Auckland, New Zealand, University of Gloucestershire[9] in the United Kingdom. In 2013, VanArts signed an agreement for its first local degree pathway with the Vancouver campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University.[10]

The William Davis Centre for Actors Study

The William Davis Centre for Actors Study was opened in 1989 by William B. Davis, best known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on The X-Files. In 2008 the William Davis Centre for Actors Study became the acting department of VanArts[11] and Davis is still a teacher there.

Original classes focused on theatre training only. However, as Vancouver's reputation as "Hollywood North" grew and more film and television productions came to the city, the school quickly expanded into teaching acting for film and television as well. The school has a full-time program running during the day which starts in September of each year, and part-time classes running throughout the year, primarily during the evening. There are also weekend workshops and a two-week summer intensive program.

Many of the William Davis Centre's students have careers in the film and television industry and some of the most easily recognized are Lucy Lawless (Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess, also guest-starred on The X-Files) and Aaron Douglas, who played Galen Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica.

Due to the success of William Davis' role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on The X-Files, the school became a stop on the X-Tour, a Vancouver area tour designed for X-Files fans. The tour continued to operate after the television show ended.

Columbia Academy Broadcasting School

Originally part of an American company, the Columbia School of Broadcasting, in 1967, founder, George McNeill, took control of the Vancouver school and established the Columbia Academy.[12]

The courses offered at that time were dedicated to Broadcast Announcing and Commercial Copywriting for Radio & Television. In the late 1970s, McNeill created Water Street Film & Sound Works, a state-of-the-art recording facility boasting both 24-track and 48-track studios, and added Recording Engineering career training to the courses offered. As a result, in 1981, the school's name was changed to Columbia Academy of Radio, Television and Recording Arts.

In 1986, Columbia Academy moved from Vancouver's historic Gastown district into its current 20,000 square foot location on West Broadway.[13] That year also marked the school's expansion into Video, Film and Television Production training. In 2002, Columbia Academy opened Sky Wing, a state-of-the-art Broadcast facility and in 2003, the Recording division became fully digital.[14] In 2011 Columbia Academy's broadcasting department became a part of VanArts and it remains at the pinnacle of Broadcasting, Recording & Sound Design.

Programs

VanArts offers 12 month intensive and highly specialized programs, as well as part-time courses[15] in Acting (which includes beginners courses, scene study and audition preparation as well as Voice and Speech), Art & Animation (which includes Stop Motion, Comic Book Design) and Digital Photography (which includes Photography 101 and Video for DSLR).

2D & 3D Character Animation

Head of 2D/3D Character Animation: Wayne Gilbert
2D and 3D animators at VanArts animation school learn their craft while developing meaningful industry relationships. Focusing exclusively on the skills you need to break into the animation sector you desire, either 2D or 3D, students get the same assignments in their different formats. Students graduate as a specialist in character animation.[16]

Broadcasting for Radio & TV

Head of Broadcasting for Radio & Television: A.J. Junop
Columbia Academy at VanArts is the Broadcasting for Radio & Television program at The Vancouver Institute of Media Arts and is older than VanArts itself. Students start on-air while studying at VanArts, by filling some of the 800 available hours of on-air time at the broadcasting school’s campus radio station. Instructors are well-respected radio veterans with decades of experience in both broadcasting and production. Hands-on practice teaches students how to handle themselves on and off the air, along with important skills like copywriting, commercial production, copywriting, programming, music direction and promotions.[17]

Game Art & Design

Head of Game Art & Design: Wade Howie
Students learn how to visualize, create and move 3D assets on the screen and discover everything about character modeling, rigging, lighting and texturing. The teachers of the Game Art & Design program are creators currently working in the industry in Vancouver. Students develop their skills in traditional drawing, sculpting and concept art to a higher level by developing game design abilities in advanced 3D techniques and production methods.[18]

Web Development & Interactive Design

Head of Web Development & Interactive Design: Ali Efe
Project management leaders work with students to create on-trend and leading-edge live site projects as part of the VanArts web design courses. Involvement goes beyond the classroom, students attend real planning and development meetings where they must meet client expectations. Industry experts teach comprehensive web design courses, from creating visual elements to database development, through to managing a business site.[19]

Acting for Film & Television

Head of Acting for Film & Television: Chilton Crane
William Davis Centre for Actors Study at VanArts is a practical, professional and intense program taught by Canada's greatest screen-actors as well as several stage and voice actors, with special classes in stunt performance and dance.[20]

Digital Photography

Head of Digital Photography: Ian McGuffie
The digital photography program at VanArts, North America's first ever one-year diploma program in digital photography, makes students ready for an independent career as a digital photographer. Students learn the basics of digital photography and continue to finesse their skills to the highest level with workshops in the field, working with light, lighting and models. The program boasts a fully equipped studio and students take part in actual commercial photo shoots to help hone their craft. The teachers are all industry and working professionals. The program also has classes involving the business side as well as the artistic side, showing students how to effectively run their own photography business.[21]

Visual Effects

Head of Visual Effects for Film & Television: Wade Howie
In the VFX program at VanArts students will learn and use all the current VFX production tools like 3D Stereoscopy, green screen and 2D/3D content creation using Autodesk Maya, Nuke and Houdini. Operating within a studio production paradigm, students learn advanced techniques for compositing, modeling, lighting and texturing.[22]

Notable faculty

Guest instructors and speakers

Notable alumni

References

External links

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