Foundation year consists of two very different halves: Fall (or Summer) term, where everyone takes the same introductory courses, and the Winter term, where you pick and choose from courses in design, craft, media or fine arts.
In your first, term, all students take four mandatory courses to develop the same core skills:
- Introduction to Studio Practice: The formal elements, organizing principles and creative processes in the visual arts, with special attention paid to colour theory.
- Introduction to Visual Culture: How visual images and objects function within various cultural contexts.
- Writing for the Arts: Prepares students for the writing required in other courses at NSCAD, and in their artistic careers.
- Foundation Drawing I: Introduces fundamental skills of representation in drawing.
By talking with instructors and academic advisors in your first term, curation becomes the key to your second term. Students choose four courses from at least two of the following areas:
Design
Craft
- Ceramics 1000
- Jewellery 1000
- Textiles 1000
- Fashion 1000
Media
- Film 1000
- Expanded Media 1000
- Photography 1000
Fine Arts
- Sculpture 1000
- Print 1000
- Painting 1000
- Drawing 1000
This allows you to practice and play, while trying to plan for any number of future directions you might want to take.
For instance, want to become a futuristic furniture designer? You might choose Design, Textiles, Sculpture, and Expanded Media, so you learn about fabrics, 3D space and digital or virtual environments.
Your targeted explorations allow you soak up a range of hands-on and theoretical courses, learning how to safely use our incredible facilities (did you ever think you’d be welding in the morning, hand-dying wool in afternoon, and developing photos at night?) while thinking about the history of socially engaged art, queer theory and decolonial approaches to design.
By allowing every student to curate their first year, NSCAD immediately sets the expectation of self-directed, mentored study, while immersing oneself in a collaborative, artistic environment where everyone is building a different version of the same concept.
Upon completion of the Foundation program, students will be well-equipped to choose the discipline (or disciplines) that will dictate the path of their remaining years.
