The Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

for-profit

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...

. The college was founded in 1963 by Philip J. Steele, an artist and teacher.

History

RMCAD was founded in 1963 by Philip J. Steele, an artist and educator. The college relocated several times as it increased enrollment. In 2003, the college moved from its three-building Denver location to its current and larger location in the suburb of Lakewood. In 2010, a group of investors who own

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a private for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts. The school moved to Florida in 1980 and began ...

purchased a controlling share of the college from the Steele family, and began an initiative to restructure the college and curriculum. In 2014, amidst a turnover of a significant number of key faculty, RMCAD rescheduled its in-person campus courses to align with the scheduling of online classes, and to cut costs moved most

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...

courses on line. Currently, RMCAD is affiliated with Full Sail University.

Academics

RMCAD is accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Io ...

(HLC) and the

National Association of Schools of Art and Design The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees ...

. The Interior Design program is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.

Students

Approximately 1,400 undergraduate students with a student body is 66% female, 34% male, 41% minorities and international students. Seventy-nine percent of students are out-of-state. Student to instructor ratio is above average at nine students for every instructor and the average class size is eight students. The average age of on-campus students is 23 and the average online student is 30.

Campus

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design campus comprises . The RMCAD campus has the designation of National Historic District. Currently, the campus has 17 structures, 11 of which are devoted to classrooms, common areas, and other support spaces, including four galleries and studio spaces. The campus is the former site of the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) and its successor organization, the American Medical Center, included in the

National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Colorado __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Colorado. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County ...

and is located in the 40 West Arts District close to

Casa Bonita Casa Bonita (Spanish for "pretty house") is a Mexican restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado, at the JCRS ( Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society) Shopping Center, now known as the Lamar Station Plaza. It was originally part of a chain of Mexican-themed ...

. The campus is located in the city of

which is between the city of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and the foothills of Colorado's

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

mountains.

Galleries

The college has four main galleries; the Philip J. Steele Gallery, Rude Gallery, Alumni Gallery, and Student Gallery. The Philip J. Steele Gallery is the largest gallery on campus and is named after the founder of the college. Rude Gallery is a more intimate space in the Rude Building, and the Alumni Gallery is located in the main foyer of the Texas building. The student gallery is located in the EPiC building.

References

External links

* {{authority control Art schools in Colorado Private universities and colleges in Colorado Education in Jefferson County, Colorado Education in Lakewood, Colorado Universities and colleges in Denver Educational institutions established in 1963 1963 establishments in Colorado For-profit universities and colleges in the United States