New Brunswick College of Craft and Design

The New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (NBCCD) is the only one of its kind in Canada that focuses entirely on fine craft and design.^[1] Its campus is located in downtown Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, near the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and along the Saint John River. Programs offered include two-year Diplomas in Aboriginal Visual Arts, Ceramics, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Jewellery/Metal Arts, Photography, and Textile Design, as well as one-year Certificate programs in Foundation Visual Arts and Advanced Studio Practice.^[2] The College features a studio-based education with a hands-on entrepreneurship focus. They offer a four-year Bachelor of Applied Arts (BAA) in partnership with the University of New Brunswick (UNB).^[3]

With small class sizes and an internationally recognized faculty,^[1] the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design offers a range of programs from traditional craft studios to contemporary digital design, as well as an Aboriginal Visual Art Program, which features the history and traditional crafts of the Wolastoqey, Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy First Nations Cultures in Atlantic Canada.

NBCCD is also home to LEAP (Lifelong Education with an Artistic Purpose) non-credit courses, craft workshops as part of edVentures Fredericton's summer programming, and the George Fry Gallery.^[4]

Academics

Overview

The strength of NBCCD is in its ability to prepare students for success in the workplace by having adaptable and transferable design making and entrepreneurial skills at their disposal.^[5]

• 1-year Certificate Programs in Foundation Visual Arts (FVA) and Advanced Studio Practice
• 2-year Diplomas in Aboriginal Visual Arts (AVA), Ceramics, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Jewellery/Metal Arts, Photography and Textile Design.
• 2+2 (4-year) Bachelor of Applied Arts (BAA) Degree with the University of New Brunswick (UNB)^[2]

Articulation Agreements

The four-year Bachelor of Applied Arts (BAA) articulation between the University of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design offers a unique combination of academic and practical study, offering the advanced reasoning, research, and writing skills of a traditional liberal arts education at UNB along with the hands-on experience of studio art courses offered by the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, one of Canada's most respected fine craft and design schools.

The BAA is a four-year degree program, two years of which are taken at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (NBCCD) and the remaining two years (60 ch) at the University of New Brunswick Fredericton (UNBF). The two required years at NBCCD will generally consist of the Foundation Visual Arts Certificate and the first year of a Diploma. Students may start at either institution, may attend each school in alternate years, or complete the requirements of one before moving on to another.^[3]

History

Founding

Starting in 1938, the New Brunswick government created an outreach training program in an attempt to supplement worker’s income beyond traditional seasonal work in fishing, farming and forestry. This endeavour was the initial impetus for what would later become the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.

With a break during World War II, the program re-emerged with a location at Hut #43 at Exhibition Court in Fredericton and in 1946 Dr. Ivan Crowell was hired from McGill University. Crowell would have a major impact on our province’s development of a craft industry. Dr. Crowell established a Handicraft Training Center at Exhibition Court in Fredericton (fully equipped to teach wood turning, weaving on floor and table looms, rug hooking, braiding and weaving, leather work and cutting and polishing gem stones) and in 1950 a summer school at Fundy National Park called the New Brunswick School of Arts and Crafts.

Since then, the College has been located at the Palmer MacLellan Building on Argyle Street in the late 1960’s, the Huts at the Old Army Barracks at St. Anne’s Point on Woodstock Road in 1970 under the leadership of Allan Crimmins and finally in 1980 the permanent location, then known as the Old Liquor Commission Warehouse on Queen Street under the direction of George Fry. On May 30, 2010, as part of the Provincial government’s action plan for post-secondary education, the College separated from the community college system, remaining under the umbrella of the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour.  In 2011, the College added the newly renovated Barracks Building which at one time housed the Fredericton Temperance Reform Club.^[1]

International partnerships

The New Brunswick College of Craft and Design was one of eight Canadian colleges chosen to lead post-secondary initiatives in Brazil as part of the bilateral "Mulheres Mils" project. The partnership was designed to train disadvantaged Brazilian women, in northern and northeastern states of the country, in fashion, handicrafts, and other skills.^[6]

Student Life

Student Body

The focus on entrepreneurship is tailored to students who want to develop commercial or artistic collections, work in the industry or start a business. The program attracts a wide range of people. Typically, a third are older than 35. NBCCD classes have a maximum of 12 students, which helps sustain its dedication to one-on-one mentorship.^[7]

References