Since 1926, AUArts has inspired thousands of students to pursue their dreams. As Alberta’s only dedicated art, craft and design institution, we’re proud to play an important role in nurturing creativity and driving innovation in our province and around the world.
Top 10 reasons to choose AUArts
Small class sizes make a world of difference in the quality of education. AUArts's diverse programs and world-class studio facilities ensure you have everything you need to fuel your creative drive.
1. Amazing arts facilities and studio space
As an AUArts student, you’ll enjoy one of the best – and biggest – arts facilities Canada has to offer, with each of our shared studios supervised by skilled professionals. So you get a helping hand when you need it, as well as your own studio space in your third and fourth year.
2. Acclaimed, practicing artists as faculty
AUArts’s classes are led by some of the most talented – and prominent – practising artists in the country, with some of the smallest class sizes (we’re talking a student-to-faculty ratio of 16:1). These exceptional practitioners and dedicated teachers make studying at AUArts a rich, inspiring, and personal experience for emerging artists and designers.
3. Diverse degree programs
AUArts offers Bachelors of Fine Arts and Bachelors of Design degree programs, as well as a Masters degree program. With 11 areas of concentration ranging and the flexibility to work across disciplines, you can expand your skills or hone right in on the details that inspire you. Because options are a good thing, right?
4. Location, location, location
Close to stunning mountain parks and full of arts and culture, Calgary is a safe, sunny city with a small-town heart. Plus, as Calgary’s economy becomes increasingly diverse, the potential for finding meaningful employment and a market for your work here is high – for both students and graduates.
5. Student travel programs
Got a travel bug? AUArts students can enrich their studies through student travel programs. Spend a semester studying elsewhere in North America, the UK, continental Europe, or Australia, do a studio residence, or find travel funding to create your own voyage of discovery.
6. Visiting Artist program
You can also stay put and have the world come to you. AUArts’s well-established visiting artist program brings some of the world’s top creative minds to campus to speak and conduct workshops.
7. Support for students
Everyone needs a hand sometimes. To make sure you get the help you need, AUArts offers academic support, writing assistance, and professional counselling services for all students, free of charge. All students, including international students, also receive government health care, medical prescription coverage, and dental benefits.
8. Affordable tuition
AUArts’s tuition and fees are among the least expensive of Canada’s art and design colleges. We also award hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to students through scholarships and awards, accept FAFSA student loans, and provide multiple financing options to ensure everyone can access our programs.
9. MFA program in Craft Media
Our MFA program in Craft Media brings graduate students to campus, enriching AUArts with new energy, a higher level of research, and creating new conversations about contemporary craft.
10. Tools for a successful career
At AUArts you’ll not only develop critical-thinking abilities and advanced creative skills you need for your career, you’ll also be mentored by accomplished, active professional artists who’ve been there. We also provide career development courses and programs to help you acquire the practical tools and business skills you’ll need for a successful career.
