Savannah College of Art and Design

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Savannah College of Art and Design
Established: 1978
Type: Private college
President: Paula S. Wallace
Faculty: 447
Staff: 911
Undergraduates: est. 7,824
Postgraduates: est. 1,073
Location: Savannah and Atlanta, GA, USA
Campus: Urban
Tuition: $25,965
Colors: Gold and Black         
Mascot: Art the Bee
Website: www.scad.edu

The Savannah College of Art and Design (often referred to as SCAD) — founded in 1978 by Paula S. Wallace, Richard Rowan, May Poetter and Paul Poetter — Offers fine art degrees. The college is closely engaged with the city of Savannah and the preservation of its rich architectural heritage. [1]

SCAD enrolls more than 9,000 students from all 50 states and 100 countries. International student enrollment is 10-12 percent. [2]

The college features a study-abroad campus in the scenic town of Lacoste, France. In 2005, SCAD opened a campus in Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, called SCAD-Atlanta. In June 2006, the Atlanta College of Art was bought out and closed by SCAD. SCAD-Atlanta is near the Woodruff Arts Center and the High Museum of Art on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. [3]

Contents

[edit] Administration

[edit] Richard Rowan (1978-2000)

Rowan served as president of the college from its inception in 1978 until April of 2000, when SCAD's Board of Trustees promoted Rowan to Chancellor. Rowan is credited as the visionary force behind the creation, growth and expansion of the college and the economic impact it has had on the city of Savannah. During his tenure as Chancellor, Rowan devoted the majority of his time traveling and recruiting international students and staff. In 2001, Chancellor Rowan resigned from the college. [4]

[edit] Paula S. Wallace (2000-present)

Wallace was promoted to president of the college in 2000 after serving as Provost and Dean of Academics since the founding of the college in 1978. Wallace is described as the force behind the college's mission, curriculum, staffing and award-winning renovation projects. As President, Wallace is responsible for the direct the internal management of the institution. Under Wallace’s leadership, SCAD established an off-campus site in Lacoste, France, in 2002. In 2003, the college launched the SCAD e-Learning program, offering certificates and full master’s degrees online. In 2004, SCAD established a campus in Atlanta offering B.F.A., M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in 11 majors. Today the college encompasses more than 2,500,000 square feet (232,000 m²) in Atlanta, Lacoste and Savannah. Wallace has also initiated several annual events, such as the Sidewalk Arts Festival, Savannah Film Festival, Fashion Show, SCAD Style, Art Educators’ Forum and Rising Star — all of which have a tremendous cultural and economic impact on the community. [5]

[edit] Facilities

Poetter Hall, originally Preston Hall, was SCAD's first building and first historic restoration project.
Poetter Hall, originally Preston Hall, was SCAD's first building and first historic restoration project.

The college's first academic building was the Savannah Volunteer Guard Armory, which was purchased and renovated in 1979. Built in 1892, the Romanesque Revival red brick structure is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally named Preston Hall, the building was renamed Poetter Hall in honor of co-founders May and Paul Poetter. SCAD soon expanded rapidly, acquiring buildings in Savannah's downtown historic and Victorian districts, restoring old and often derelict buildings that had exhausted their original functions.

By restoring buildings for use as college facilities, the college has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Historic Savannah Foundation and the Victorian Society of America, among others. The college campus now consists of more than 60 buildings throughout the grid and park system of downtown Savannah. Many buildings are located on the famous 21 squares of the old town, which are laden with monuments, live oaks and an undeniable Southern-Gothic feel that is sought by the many movies filmed there.

Features located on or near the college buildings include the Riverfront Plaza and Factors' Walk — River Street's restored 19th-century cotton warehouses and passageways include shops, bars and restaurants — and City Market, Savannah's restored central market, features antiques, souvenirs and small eateries.

Located in Atlanta's burgeoning Midtown, SCAD–Atlanta facilities provide ample classroom and exhibition space, well-equipped computer labs, library, photography darkrooms, printmaking and sculpture studios, a dining hall, fitness center, swimming pool and residence hall. [6]

The college's facilities in Lacoste, France, date back 500–600 years. Founded by Bernard Pfriem, an American artist, in the 1970s and called the Lacoste School of the Arts, the small town of about 300 permanent inhabitants is steeped in rustic charm. Lacoste is a medieval village in Provence, which is in Southern France. The beautiful countryside is an asset to the college as an inspiration for the courses taught there. Enrollment in Lacoste usually is for one quarter of the academic school year. [7]

[edit] Departments

Montgomery Hall is home of Animation, Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics, Interactive Design and Game Development, and Visual Effects
Montgomery Hall is home of Animation, Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics, Interactive Design and Game Development, and Visual Effects

[edit] SCAD-Savannah

The university's Savannah campus is divided into seven schools: [8]

[edit] School of Building Arts

[edit] School of Communication Arts

[edit] School of Design

[edit] School of Film and Digital Media

[edit] School of Fine Arts

Trustee's Theater in Downtown Savannah
Trustee's Theater in Downtown Savannah

[edit] School of Liberal Arts

[edit] School of Performing Arts

[edit] SCAD-Atlanta

The university's Atlanta campus is divided into four schools: [9]

[edit] Communication Arts

  • Academic Director for Communication Arts: Pat Quinn
  • Departments: Advertising Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, and Sequential Art

[edit] Building Arts

  • Academic Director for Building Arts: Teresa Griffis, Ph.D. (Acting)
  • Departments: Interior Design

[edit] Design and Liberal Arts

  • Academic Director for Design and Liberal Arts: Denise Smith, Ph.D.
  • Departments: Art History, Fashion, and Liberal Arts

[edit] Film and Digital Media

  • Academic Director for Digital Media: Matthew Maloney
  • Departments: Animation, Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics, Interactive Design and Game Development, Visual Effects

[edit] Fine Arts and Foundations

  • Academic Director for Fine Arts and Foundations: Brett Osborn
  • Departments: Foundation Studies, Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture

The most popular is the School of Film and Digital Media, which has seen much growth in recent years with the addition of new majors to support the demand for technology-based art classes. These areas of study focus on computer effects, animation and design for film, television, games and the Internet. To meet this demand, a former 64,000-square-foot (5,900 m²) carriage factory was refurbished as a high-end, 800-computer animation and effects teaching/production house complete with render farm, green-screen stages and even stop-motion labs. SCAD recently added an increasingly popular program in sound design, offering concentration in music production or audio for image.

Also very popular and widely recognized is the School of Communication Arts, which includes graphic design, advertising design, illustration, photography and sequential art. Most graphic design classes are held in Poetter Hall on Madison Square. Within its historic walls, Poetter Hall embraces the trend in electronic design, and features a large number of computers and several high-end Apple Computer workstations in its labs.

(*) Students are only allowed to minor in these areas

[edit] Students

Foundation studies classes are taught in Anderson Hall.
Foundation studies classes are taught in Anderson Hall.

Most students live off-campus, which is to say outside the residence halls, as there are no formal campus grounds other than those contained by the building properties themselves. There are nine buildings that provide student housing and range from one- to three-person, single-room residence halls; to four-bedroom student apartments. The residence halls are Weston House, Dyson House, Oglethorpe House, Turner House, Turner Annex, Pulaski House (an all female residence hall), Forsyth House, Gaston House, Boundary Village, and Barnard Village (completed in 2007). SCAD has no fraternities or sororities.

The college has two newspapers: The Chronicle and the entirely student-run District. Student media also extends to SCAD Radio, an Internet-broadcast radio station; The Network, the student television production group; The Hive, a student-run online community; and Agency Five, a student-run advertising agency. There are 23 student organizations related to academic programs and another 22 that are recognized but not affiliated with any particular programs.

Students are expected to focus on three areas of study: foundation studies (art fundamentals such as drawing, color theory and design), liberal arts (math, science, art history and English needed for accreditation) and their major area of discipline (a specific course of study such as graphic design, sequential art or animation).

[edit] Events

Chalk drawing by SCAD alumni at the Sidewalk Arts Festival.
Chalk drawing by SCAD alumni at the Sidewalk Arts Festival.

The college operates 10 galleries, notably Red Gallery, the ACA Gallery of SCAD, the Pei Ling Chan Gallery, the Pinnacle Gallery, and La Galerie Bleue. In addition, the college holds numerous lectures, performances and film screenings at two historic theaters, the Trustees Theater and the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. These theaters also are used once a year for the popular Savannah Film Festival in late October/early November. With average attendance close to 35,000, the event includes a week of lectures, workshops and screenings of student and professional films. There also is a juried competition. [10]

Each April, SCAD hosts the Sidewalk Arts Festival, which attracts huge crowds to Savannah's largest downtown park, Forsyth Park. The festival consists primarily of the chalk-drawing competition, which is divided into group and individual categories of students, alumni and prospective students. Similar in spirit is the Sand Arts Festival. This particular sand festival is held every spring on the beaches of nearby Tybee Island. Contestants can work alone or in groups of up to four people. The competition is divided into sand relief, sand sculpture, sand castle and wind sculpture divisions. [11]

Individual departments host both yearly and quarterly shows to promote student work. Conferences such as the GDX conference [12] and events such as SCAD Style [13] foster dialogue among students, faculty and professionals, and offer opportunities for networking and career enhancement.

Students tend to frequent en masse non-SCAD-affiliated events if they are held in the historic district — for example, the Savannah Jazz Festival and the Savannah Shakespeare Festival (both in Forsyth Park) — not to mention the St. Patrick's Day celebration, which is one of the largest and oldest in the United States.

[edit] Athletics

SCAD competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics's Florida Sun Conference. The college hosts programs in men's and women's basketball, cross country, equestrian, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and tennis; women's softball and volleyball; and men's baseball. Fencing and cheerleading are also offered as club sports. Opportunities for athletics participation also exist through the vast offerings of the college's intramural programs. Volleyball, beach volleyball, basketball, soccer, flag football, softball and various other activities are available at the intramural level.

On June 17, 2003, Savannah College of Art and Design executive vice president Brian Murphy and athletic director Jud Damon announced that the college would be changing athletic affiliation from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III and rejoining the NAIA. SCAD had been a Division III member since 1992, but would now be joining the Florida Sun Conference. The college was a member of the NAIA from 1987-1992 and renewed membership in the NAIA and the FSC for the 2003-2004 season. Each year SCAD student athletes are recognized locally, regionally and nationally for excellence in the classroom as well as in athletics competition. Many SCAD teams have been ranked among the nation's top 25 teams in recent years, including baseball, men's and women's golf, men's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's swimming, women's cross country, volleyball, softball, and men's and women's soccer.

[edit] Controversy

SCAD has policies regarding coaching its faculty in how to talk to accrediting inspectors, and the school has been censured by the American Association for University Professors for abuses of its faculty. [14]

[edit] Noted alumni and faculty

[edit] Alumni

[edit] Notable Faculty

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ URBAN RENEWAL: NEW LIFE FOR AN OLD CITY (1996). THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT, Landmark Communications, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  2. ^ Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) (2006). Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  3. ^ Art Schools: Savannah College Of Art And Design (2006). Your3DSource. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  4. ^ Richard Rowan resigns from SCAD (2001). Savannah Morning News. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  5. ^ Hail to the new chief (2001). Savannah Morning News. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  6. ^ SCAD Comes to Atlanta (2005). fight.boredom. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  7. ^ SCAD-Lacoste (2002). PR Newswire, a Gale Group Company. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  8. ^ SCAD Degree Programs (2007). Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  9. ^ SCAD-Atlanta Degree Programs (2007). Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  10. ^ Savannah Film Festival (2007). Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  11. ^ Sidewalk Arts Festival 2007 (2007). Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  12. ^ Game Developers eXchange 2008 at SCAD-Atlanta (2007). Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  13. ^ SCAD Style (2007). Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  14. ^ American Association of University Professors academic freedom and tenure report on SCAD (1993). Retrieved March 8, 2008.
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