Explore our facilitIes
From state-of-the-art Blaauw ceramic kilns, 3-D filming gear and VR equipment, to our renowned Dawson Letterpress or our weaving looms, NSCAD boasts incredible equipment and facilities across three campuses that merge the traditional and cutting edge.
Find creative inspiration at NSCAD.
We boast the only art and design library in Atlantic Canada, and five different galleries in which students showcase their work; and so much more. During your time at NSCAD, you’ll learn to shape your place in the world — and make art matter.
Contact us to book a tour, take a virtual tour online right now.
We look forward to meeting you.
Fountain campus.
A National Historic Site of Canada, set near the Halifax boardwalk, the Fountain Campus encompasses an entire city block of Victorian terrace-style buildings that were once an interconnected row of 19 merchant shops and warehouses. Inside you will find mysterious nooks and stairwells, open interiors and modern studio spaces — as well as the Anna Leonowens Gallery, the NSCAD Art Supply Store, the NSCAD Library, NSCAD Learning Commons, Office
of Student Experience, and the NSCAD Student Union (SUNSCAD).
DRAWING
FASHION + TEXTILES
JEWELLERY + METALSMITHING
PAINTING
PHOTOGRAPY
INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN
PRINTMAKING
SCREENPRINTING
WEAVING
Port campus.
Perched on Halifax’s waterfront and boasting uninterrupted views of the harbour from its glass curtain seawall, the Port Campus is a renovated historic warehouse repurposed specifically for art education and production. In addition to the many first-year classes and studios that are held at the Port, the three-storey steel and concrete structure houses the school’s more industrial art, design, and craft practices. The Port Loggia Gallery and Treaty Space Gallery, on the first floor, expands NSCAD’s exhibition programming.
SCULPTURE
PLASTICS LAB
CERAMICS
PRODUCT DESIGN
FOUNDATION STUDIOS
WOODSHOP
METALSHOP
FOUNDRY
Academy campus.
The Academy Campus is located in a Gothic Revival brick building at the base of historic Citadel Hill, originally built in 1878 as a high school. Don’t let the building’s historic exterior fool you, the space is home to the Media Arts division, including NSCAD’s film program. Within the building, you will find edit suites, studio space, sound rooms, a screening room, animation facilities, and faculty offices.
FILM + MEDIA
ANIMATION
EDITING SUITES
SCREENING ROOMS
FILM STUDIOS
SOUND RECORDING
FACULTY
On campus.
ANNA LEONOWENS GALLERY SYSTEMS
The Anna Leonowens Gallery is NSCAD’s public exhibition space located on the Fountain Campus and on the Port Campus as the Port Loggia Gallery and Treaty Space Gallery. Focused on the curatorial, artistic, and educational development of students, the gallery mounts over 125 exhibitions and over 50 events each year, attracting more than 20,000 visitors annually.
With bustling Monday night openings and engaging noon-hour artists’ talks, the gallery is central to the Eastern Canadian art community. Senior students may also take advantage of the gallery’s curatorial and design internships for degree credit.
DAWSON PRINT SHOP
one of Canada’s most extensive collections of functional typographic material. It has a wide variety of historic letterpress printing technologies and 1,500 cases of metal and wooden type.
NSCAD currently uses the Dawson Print Shop as a teaching space for short modules in classes across various divisions. Dedicated courses in book arts are not being offered in the summer or fall 2024 terms. The shop will continue to be a destination for visiting artists’ workshops, including Ashes Withyram’s recent project this month.
Currently, NSCAD is designing new course offerings to be delivered in Winter 2025 that will focus on contemporary approaches to book arts and post-digital forms of making. The studio will be active in the fall with research projects and new Foundation Print Media classes as we re-imagine the future of the studio.
LIBRARY
The NSCAD University Library houses a collection of more than 50,000 books and periodicals in the visual and media arts, craft, fashion, and design. Special collections include exhibition catalogues, artists’ books, printed matter, and rare books. The Visual Resources Collection houses slides, 16 mm films, DVDs, videos, CDs, and audio tapes. NSCAD is a partner in Novanet, a Nova Scotia university library consortium which facilitates the loaning of library materials between university and college libraries.
LEARNING COMMONS + WORK SPACES
NSCAD is full of places to work on a project or write an essay. Whether it’s a personal studio space or a quiet classroom, students have access to spaces 24 hours a day. There are computer labs throughout all three campuses with printing and photocopy services. The Learning Commons is a study and research space located on the third floor of the NSCAD Library at the Fountain Campus.
WRITING RESOURCE CENTRE
The Writing Resource Centre provides individual tutoring, group workshops, and resources for students at any stage of study from foundation to the graduate level. The aim is to help students develop their own critical voice for reading, discussion, and writing so that they can engage in an active exchange of ideas within the academic community.
HEALTH SERVICES NSCAD
University offers a variety of health supports including on-campus counselling, peer mentoring program, and medical insurance coverage for all full-time students. One-on-one consultations and planning sessions are available for students who require an individualized approach to learning in the classroom.
CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP LAB (CEL)
CEL is a comprehensive career and business advancement service. Supporting current students and alumni, it broadens the networking opportunities for aspiring creative workers through events and education such as jobs and internships, residencies, funding opportunities, industry engagement, and more.