| The Art Institute of Pittsburgh | |
|---|---|
| Motto | The College for Creative Minds |
| Established | 1921 |
| Type | Private |
| President | George Sebolt |
| Students | 6,200 |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Black and Red |
| Nickname | AIP |
| Affiliations | Education Management Corporation |
| Website | www.artinstitutes.edu/pittsburgh/ |
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh (AIP) is a private, for-profit, higher education institute located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that emphasizes design education and career preparation for the creative job market. It was founded in 1921.
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Founded in 1921, AIP is the oldest The Art Institutes in North America. It occupies nine floors and maintains academic oversight of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. It has had a history of producing all types of art and artists (such as watercolorist Frank Webb and the late science fiction illustrator Frank Kelly Freas), but specializing primarily in design disciplines, including graphic design, industrial design, advertising and game art and design. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is the flagship school of the Art Institute System, and was the original model upon which the others were based. The Art Institutes comprise the largest collegiate art and design education system in the world.
The main campus of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh is located in downtown Pittsburgh. As it has grown, it has relocated six times, expanding each time into larger facilities with a broader curriculum, resulting in one of the largest arts colleges in the United States. The year 2000 saw the school's most recent relocation from its previous facilities on Penn Avenue to the historic landmark building at 420 Boulevard of the Allies, the former Equitable Gas Company building. The school currently resides roughly eight blocks from The Art Institutes headquarters of Education Management Corporation (EDMC). A satellite campus is operated in York, Pennsylvania.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh academic facilities are housed in one large building in downtown Pittsburgh, the formerly named Equitable Gas building. The main dormitory is called Shannon Hall, with two smaller dormitories Standard Life and Miller Hall. All three are within short walking distance. Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online administrative buildings are located off-site in the Strip District section of Pittsburgh. The school has some of the most extensive arts-oriented technology facilities of any school in the United States, including over one thousand computers equipping numerous general and specialized computer teaching laboratories. Among the specialized shops and laboratories are a 3D rapid prototyping laboratory, sound, video and digital film editing studios, theatrical makeup, wood, metal and ceramic shops, culinary kitchens, and television studios.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh has produced many famous alumni, including science fiction art pioneer and Mad Magazine illustrator Frank Kelly Freas, illustrator J. Howard Miller, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Martha Rial, and cartoonist Tom Wilson. Martha Rial is one of only two women to win a Pulitzer prize in photography, and both are Art Institute graduates. 1978 graduate Mark Stutzman created the "Elvis" postage stamp, the most popular U.S. postage stamp of all time. Dame Jennifer M. Smith, former Premier of Bermuda, is a 1970 graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
The defacto mascot of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh is the T-Rex dinosaur, informally known as "Creation Rex." The dinosaur, which has its own blog page, is a physical sculpture mounted in front of the building. The dinosaur is frequently decorated to reflect current events. For instance it was seen chewing on a Red Wings jersey during the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is accredited by The Middle States Commission on Higher Education and The Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). The college is also accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) and maintains programmatic accreditation with the American Culinary Federation (ACF) and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).[1][2]
In light of the United States Department of Justice vs. EDMC case[3], The Art Institute of Pittsburgh (and other EDMC owned schools) have recently come under heavy fire with claims that the institution provides poor curriculum, sub-standard living conditions for on campus housing, and promotes itself to potential students with aggressive "boiler room" sales tactics.
Furthermore, in a statement made before the Senate HELP Committee, from former Art Institute / EDMC employee, Kathryn A. Bittel, recruiters for the school purposely give students inflated and inaccurate employment rates to encourage enrollment.[4] The Art Institute chain that the Pittsburgh campus belongs to has also come under heavy criticism for the same, with several states filing lawsuits along with the Department of Justice against their parent company, EDMC.
Viral videos made by former students speaking out against the school have also begun to appear online in number, accusing the school of being a diploma mill.[5]