Diploma in Fine Arts Studio

at Centennial College - Story Arts Centre Campus Canada

Centennial College's Fine Arts Studio program is an intensive two-year offering with emphasis on physically creating art through drawing, painting and sculpting.

By getting your hands dirty (literally), you learn the latest skills and techniques, find your own creative voice and be prepared to launch your career as an artist. You spend more time in the studio in two years at Centennial College than other schools offer in four!

In addition to the creative process, this arts diploma program offers one of Ontario's most comprehensive professional practice curriculum's. You'll graduate well-prepared to thrive as a self-employed artist in the professional arts community.

In this Fine Arts Studio program, you:

• Develop advanced technical, conceptual and professional skills required to engage the contemporary arts community.
• Work independently both in and out of the studio environment.
• Receive lots of one-on-one attention.
• Begin to nurture a lifetime of growth as a professional visual artist and storyteller.
• Have a progressive learning experience led by a collaborative team of teachers.
• Be encouraged to develop personal direction and approach to build your own unique voice and style in visual storytelling.
• The Fine Arts Studio program is for you if you are serious about practicing as a professional. As a candidate, you should have meaningful prior experience, either through education, a lifetime personal commitment, and/or the professional equivalent.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements. 

Program Highlights

• The Fine Arts program frequently receives awards from both the Dean and the President for student satisfaction.
• A focus on traditional media, with selective integration of digital processes, gives you the skills necessary to thrive as a professional in the contemporary art world.
• You learn all about the business of being an artist, including getting shows and commissions, applying for grants, marketing yourself and building your career.
• In-school galleries allow for the opportunity to exhibit your work.
• You are exposed to professional exhibition opportunities, where the sales are real. Public exposure is also offered through rental programs.
• Attention is paid to individual creative growth in a studio environment.
• Enthusiastic faculty members are all accomplished professional artists and teach by drawing from their personal experiences.
• The Story Arts Centre is close to the heart of the city and gallery communities, but offers a welcoming non-institutional environment.

The Public Relations – Corporate Communications program takes just two semesters to complete and is one of the most highly regarded Public Relations (PR) programs in Toronto.
The courses in this Public Relations Graduate Certificate program, which is based at the Story Arts Centre campus, reflect the thinking that no two days in PR are alike. The industry experts who teach the courses ensure you:

• Learn to research, write, plan, edit, design and implement everything from strategic communications plans and employee newsletters to gala dinners for hundreds of people.
• Gain an understanding of how communications strategies influence employee attitudes, shift stakeholders' opinions and tell an organization's story to the media.
• Connect with the PR industry.

You may want to consider this School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design program if you have previously completed post-secondary education, possess strong writing skills and have the ability to manage various projects at the same time.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements.

Program Highlights:-

• This Public Relations program's curriculum highlights learning by doing while emphasizing employability skills and landing a job.
• The offering leads the way in social media and PR content.
• Because the program is facilitated from Centennial College's Story Arts Centre in Toronto, you are close to the heart of Toronto's PR industry.
• You complete a full-time, eight-week field placement in the industry.
• Student membership in one of the following associations is included in your tuition and fees: The Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) or the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

The Digital Visual Effects program is the only two-year college diploma offering of its kind in Ontario. Facilitated at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre, it provides you with the opportunity to learn the industry-standard techniques required to produce the photo-realistic visual effects seen in films that would be impossible to capture with a live-action camera.

In this diploma program's courses, you learn to work with the various aspects of the film-making process and bring them together into a seamless final product, while also developing your skills in industry-standard software. The Digital Visual Effects program focuses on the core skills needed to make you employable in the VFX industry and gives you the ability to explain how visual effects contribute to the entire process of storytelling in motion pictures.

You channel your efforts into demonstrating these concepts and core skills through a unique final project, for which you produce a demo reel suitable for job application in the visual effects field.

Program Highlights

• You learn industry-standard techniques in image processing, editing, lighting, rendering, matte painting, set extension, compositing and post VFX that employers are looking for.
• During the program, you produce a marketable demo and self-promotional package suitable for the VFX industry.
• A field placement in the final semester provides a valuable opportunity to work in the visual effects industry.
• You attend Digital Visual Effects courses at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre, located close to Toronto's downtown core and the major VFX studios.
• During your time in the program, you study and work in labs that are equipped with the latest tools and industry-standard software.
• The program provides a practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach that prepares you for sustainable VFX-related careers.
• Opportunities exist to collaborate with students in the digital animation, game design, photography, broadcasting, music, art and theatre programs at the Story Arts Centre. This is a unique opportunity to network, learn and work with industry professionals.

Centennial College's Arts Management program prepares you for a career in the evolving arts and cultural industry. The Arts Management courses in this two-semester Graduate Certificate program focus on developing the knowledge and skills needed to work in the performing arts sector (theatres, dance companies, music organizations and presenting facilities), the exhibiting arts sector (galleries, museum) and many other cultural and arts-related areas such as arts and film festivals.

The program explores the current issues and practices that allow cultural organizations to build audiences and flourish today — and in the years to come. Facilitated at the Story Arts Centre, Centennial College's School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, the program combines business management, marketing and planning with the tools required to connect art, artists and audiences through fundraising, education and volunteerism.

The extensive experiential learning opportunities in the program connect principles with practice, actively engaging you with the arts management profession throughout your studies. You also have the opportunity to apply your learning in the industry as part of an eight-week field placement.

As an Arts Management program graduate, you will have a thorough understanding of the political, economic, social, ethical, technological and managerial issues facing this sector.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements.

Program Highlights

• The Arts Management program emphasizes professional-quality work to ensure you graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to manage and lead in the industry.
• Through mentorships and partnerships with the arts sector, a number of career options can be explored.
• A well-designed and well-implemented fieldwork component that can be undertaken in any location in your final semester provides you with an opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in the industry.

The Art and Design Fundamentals program nurtures your artistic talents, and develops your creative, practical and entrepreneurial skills in visual art and design — whatever your level of expertise.

The studio-based, hands-on curriculum of the Art and Design Fundamentals courses is taught by practicing artists and designers who help you to develop traditional, digital and multimedia skills. The program's goal is to help you prepare a successful portfolio of artwork required for admission to specialized programs and to open up new possibilities and career choices in the diverse visual arts industry.

In this art program, you:

• Get hands-on exposure to drawing, design, colour, 3D modelling and design, visual culture, video making, digital illustration, photography and rapid prototyping.
• Build a comprehensive portfolio of artwork while working one-on-one with faculty.

Once you complete the program, you will be prepared to succeed in a variety of post-secondary communication arts and design diploma and degree areas, including animation, game arts, digital visual effects, product design, industrial design, architecture, interior design, fashion design, illustration, graphic design, digital media art, art direction, art management, creative advertising and fine arts.

Program Highlights

• Leading practicing artists, designers and educators have crafted the Art and Design Fundamentals program at Centennial College.
• Small class sizes and a dynamic working relationship between faculty and students allows for lots of one-on-one instruction and feedback.
• The Portfolio Development course sees you work on self-directed projects that focus your future career, with individual guidance from instructors.
• The Professional Practice course offers client-based community projects that emphasize experiential learning and allow you to develop your entrepreneurial skills.
• Throughout the Collaboration Studio Course, you have the opportunity to work on collaborative projects with other students at the Story Arts Centre to gain real-world experience.
• Artists and professionals who need to improve or update their skills in art, design and digital multimedia are offered a flexible curriculum, if class size allows.
• Faculty members help each student individually to take the next step in their career path.

The Product Design and Development program is the only one of its kind in Canada and provides you with the unique understanding to develop high-tech, ecological and socially responsible products from concept, to design, to production.

Combining the strengths of Centennial College's School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design and the School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, this innovative product design and development program's courses bring together hands-on learning in product and industrial design, and product development with product lifecycle management (PLM). Through interdisciplinary, collaborative group projects, you develop creative design problem-solving abilities and innovative strategies by applying all stages of the visual design process.

You acquire a wide range of skills in this advanced diploma program, including idea generation, creative problem solving, drawing, model-making, the creative design process, 3D CAD advanced computer modelling, rapid prototyping, product development (CAE analysis, reverse engineering technology, materials selection, quality testing, product costing and optimization), product lifecycle management and cross-platform multimedia communications. You also develop a strong sense of the functional and aesthetic principles of design, as well as a solid understanding of the technical and business aspects of product development.

Centennial's Product Design and Development program meets the growing need for graduates with a strategic vision of interdisciplinary product design and an understanding of all stages of the product lifecycle, who are ready to work in a variety of exciting careers related to consumer product development, electronics, furniture, transportation and more.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements. 

Program Highlights

• During your time in the program, you study and work in classrooms and labs that are equipped with the latest tools and industry-standard software.
• The program provides a practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach that prepares you for a sustainable career.
• Opportunities exist to collaborate with students in other programs at the Story Arts Centre. This is a unique opportunity to network, learn and work with industry professionals.
• Opportunity to work with ACCEL, Centennial’s in-house business incubator, to bring your ideas to market.
• Gain industry experience through STORYWORKS, a course that provides the opportunity to work with real-world clients of all kinds.

Centennial College's Dance – Performance program, the ultimate stepping stone to becoming a professional dancer, helps you dance your way to a fulfilling career.

Facilitated by the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, the dynamic Dance Performance program is on the cutting edge of what's new, innovative, current and popular in today's dance culture. This college diploma program focuses on helping you to develop a high standard of performance and technical dance skills in:

•  Commercial dance
•  Hip-hop
•  Ballet
•  Jazz
•  Contemporary
•  Cultural
•  World trends
•  Indigenous North American dance forms
•  Acrobatics
•  Singing
•  Choreography
•  Pas de deux

In addition to learning technical dance skills, you take courses that nurture and enrich the mind-body connection and enhance the ability for storytelling. Throughout the two years you spend in the Dance – Performance program, you also learn and develop the skills and tools needed to cope with issues such as self and body image, stress, rejection, nutrition and better understand anatomy and injury prevention.

With a learning environment that reflects today's industry, you graduate with a professional resume, photos and dance show-reel. You will also possess a strong entrepreneurial spirit, a professional attitude and instruction ability within the training and performance environment.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements.

Program Highlights

• You acquire performance skills at professional, artistic and technical levels.
• A field placement in the final semester provides a valuable opportunity to work in the industry.
• Both the field placement and the Dance Performance program's industry connections allow you to network, learn and work with industry professionals who are in demand worldwide.
• At the Story Arts Centre, you collaborate with students in photography, film, television, music, art and theatre programs.
• The Dance Performance program's practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach prepares you for sustainable dance-related careers directly upon graduation.

You’re sitting at home, flipping through the channels on a lazy Sunday morning. You pause on a commercial for a new cartoon that will be premiering the following week and a smile creeps across your face. As you continue to watch the commercial, your smile gets wider as a sense of pride puffs your chest out a little. The commercial ends and you turn off the TV to take in the moment.

You just witnessed the very first commercial for a show you helped to produce, and you can’t help but feel elated.

Children’s media is a key component to the Canadian entertainment industry. With rapid growth of the market, the demand for trained professionals is growing with it. Luckily, Centennial College offers a one-of-a-kind program that allows you to build and develop just the right skills to enter this line of work. The Children’s Media program provides you with hands-on experience, and prepares you for various career paths in the industry.

In only 3 semesters, you will build the capabilities to create content for children’s media, as well as learn how to manage and market various products. You’ll learn and master the true art of storytelling and put it to work with script writing. Video production and project coordination will come by as second nature after you complete your first two semesters at Centennial College.

Your final semester is where all your skills get to shine during your work-placement period. This is your opportunity to find the area of children’s media that speaks to you! Whether it be in licensing and merchandising, or in the writer’s room, the Centennial College Children’s Media program will put you on the right path to getting there.

• While in the program, you will receive front line experience in:
• Creating a brand plan
• Starting and developing content for a YouTube channel
• Working alongside a client relevant to the industry – Scholastics Canada being just one of the clients who partner with the students
• And so much more!

This will allow you to enter the workplace with a variety of experience in different sectors and completely understanding what to do in any situation. Graduates of this program have been known to be hired into the field within six months to a year of graduation, and two alumni received daytime Emmy nominations in 2018!

That moment you felt earlier after watching your first tv commercial will become a daily experience, and that experience will lead to so many more magical moments. With the Centennial College Children’s Media program, there are endless possible ways of how you can create the best moments for someone’s childhood.

The Advertising - Creative and Digital Strategy program addresses the high demand for creators in the digital field of advertising and marketing, which is growing faster than all other areas in the advertising industry.

This Advertising Graduate Certificate program takes place at the Story Arts Centre in Toronto and blends Centennial College's experience in digital media with our strengths in business and marketing. The program focuses on helping you create engaging digital experiences built on solid creative strategy. You become immersed in the digital field and learn how to develop breakthrough creative advertising campaigns.

Through your courses, you acquire the necessary skills in creative strategy, writing, developing creative concepts, art direction, collaboration, presentation and entrepreneurialism. During a field placement, which is part of the second semester, Creative and Digital Strategy students take part in team assignments, working in a collaborative environment in the real world.

You’ll also learn new technologies and platforms that keep you informed about recent innovations in the digital creative field.

The program focuses on five key areas:

• Creative strategy, to ensure advertising meets clients' business objectives.
• Digital storytelling, to build on the power of storytelling in developing impactful creative advertising.
• Brand engagement, to create strong connections with consumers.
• Entrepreneurship, to foster key business skills that encourage innovation and risk-taking.
• Emerging platforms, to ensure you are up-to-date on the latest in digital technology impacting the advertising industry.

In this program, you:

• Gain an understanding of the digital creation process from a creative director's point of view.
• Learn how to craft a creative digital strategy that delivers results.
• Develop a strong portfolio and case studies for prospective employers.
• Enhance presentation skills to help sell ideas.
• Understand the impact of technology on creative development.
• Foster digital storytelling skills to bring brands to life online.
• Analyze and solve business and marketing challenges for clients by applying innovative creative and digital techniques.
• Complement in-class education with a field placement that will provide the opportunity to work in the industry and hone your skills.

Please note:- This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements. 

Program Highlights

• This Creative and Digital Strategy program gives you the opportunity to turn a degree or diploma into an exciting career in a growing field in the advertising industry.
• You learn how to create digitally-centric creative portfolio pieces using current industry design and writing standards.
• Faculty members have extensive industry experience and can help you connect to the industry by tapping into their personal networks.
• The program is offered at the Story Arts Centre, which is about 15 minutes from most advertising and digital marketing agencies in Toronto.
• At the Story Arts Centre, there are numerous opportunities to collaborate with students in a range of other marketing and communications-focused programs to enhance the learning experience.

Game Development & Design is a three-year advanced diploma program that aims to develop expert game designers who are able to create and develop their own titles. The program prepares students to become both technically literate and able to advance the conceptual and cultural potential of games.

The program concentrates on the practical applications of the game production process from the artistic, managerial, and technical sides. Students will be introduced to 2D and 3D design processes, foundations of computer programming, as well as how to communicate effectively with teams of artists and programmers to design, prototype and iterate their own fully playable 2D and 3D games. Students will also learn the professional and personal skills needed for success in the industry.