The Fine Arts is a pre-university program, leading to a D.E.C. (Diplôme d’Études Collégiales), that offers students a solid foundation in the visual arts, and real stepping stone toward the future. Since 1974, the Fine Arts program at Champlain College has provided students with a comprehensive program that continues in its tradition to evolve and respond to the changing field of art and design.
The Fine Arts program provides a stimulating environment, in which students develop technically, creatively, and intellectually. This two-year program consists of studio foundation courses in colour theory, composition design, and courses in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, graphic design, art and the computer, as well as courses in art history, and general education. Over the four semesters, students gain the skills to work more independently, and in their final semester, students work on more self-directed projects, and learn to prepare a portfolio of their work. At the end of every year, all students from the program, both 1st and 2nd year, organize and participate in an exhibition of their work.
We also like to get out and see some art! Field trips have included the National Gallery in Ottawa, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, as well as places closer to home, like the Musée des Beaux Arts de Sherbrooke, Galerie Horace, or the Bishop’s University Art Gallery right here on campus. These trips give students the chance to experience, first-hand, some of the work by artists they have learned about in their art history and studio classes.
Along with visits to museums and galleries, students have the opportunity to attend artist talks and workshops, and meet people working in the field, be they artists, illustrators, or designers.
After graduation, our students are accepted into a diverse range of university programs, and follow a variety of career paths. The program has seen its students on to schools across the country, including Concordia University, McGill, Université de Montréal, Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Université de Laval, Bishop’s University, Carleton University, Mount Allison, Sheridan College of Art, the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), Emily Carr College of Art and Design (ECCAD), and into such programs as Studio Art, Architecture, Interior Design, Art History, Communications, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Art Education, as well as in specialized programs in Illustration, Pottery, Digital Imaging, and Video Animation.
Wherever your interests take you, a DEC in Fine Arts is a great beginning!