Visual Arts

Where Visual Arts can take you!

Our graduating students typically enter university programs directly related to the broad field of the visual arts, including studio art, design, art history, art education, art therapy, digital media and 3D animation. A DEC in Visual Arts is also a solid foundation for further studies in the humanities or social sciences.

As a Visual Arts student you will…

• Acquire technical skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, digital media and photography.
• Explore drawing and painting from observation, memory, and imagination.
• Work with traditional and contemporary approaches to printmaking and photography.
• Acquire skills and techniques in the 3D studios, including woodworking, plaster casting, welding and ceramics.
• Expand your artistic vocabulary and skills using digital media.
• Understand the major art historical movements and current art practices.
• Participate in a public exhibition of your work.
• Build a portfolio for admission to post-secondary institutions and galleries.

Field trips to galleries, museums and artist studios

Art history forms an integral part of the Visual Arts curriculum. The connection between art history and studio courses is reinforced for students with field trips to galleries, museums, artist studios and museums in Montreal, Ottawa and New York.

New York

Each fall semester, the Visual Arts Department offers a 4-day field trip to New York City. Students travel by coach bus to a hotel on Times Square. While in New York, students visit major museums featuring some of the most important works in the history of art, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. Students also visit important commercial galleries showing the work of emerging contemporary artists and emerging younger artists in some of New York’s most interesting cultural neighbourhoods.

Bursaries and scholarships for Visual Arts students

The following bursaries and scholarships are available to students in the Visual Arts program. For application forms and more detailed information about bursaries and scholarships please contact Financial Assistance Services or the Visual Arts department directly.

• Lakeshore Association of Artists Scholarship
• Kirk MacGeachy Memorial Bursary
• Freda and Irwin Browns Award

CEGEP Requirements

A Secondary School Diploma which includes:

• Secondary 5 Language of Instruction
• Secondary 5 Second Language
• Secondary 4 Mathematics
• Secondary 4 Science and Technology
  OR Secondary 4 Applied Science and Technology
• Secondary 4 History and Citizenship Education

OR a Secondary School Vocational Diploma which includes:

• Secondary 5 Language of Instruction
• Secondary 5 Second Language
• Secondary 4 Mathematics

Please Note

Applicants who have not studied in Québec must have education deemed equivalent by the College.

Program Prerequisites

In addition to the general CEGEP admissions requirements, students must complete the Visual Arts admission requirements consisting of a sample artwork and letter (see below).  Send image and text directly to visual.arts@johnabbott.qc.ca before the March 1st application deadline.
Subject line: Application submission. The letter may be written either in English or in French.

VISUAL COMPONENT
Make a work of art in any medium and any size that responds to the theme “identity”. What does identity mean to you? What does it look like? How does it make you feel? Interpret the theme any way you see fit. Be creative! Submissions may include but are not limited to drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, or digital media. Artwork should be documented and submitted as a digital JPEG file.

WRITTEN COMPONENT
Write a letter of introduction in English or French explaining the creative process you went through to produce your work of art. Tell us about yourself too and why you wish to pursue studies in visual arts at John Abbott College. Approximately 300 words.

John Abbott College is affiliated with the Service régional d’admission du Montréal métropolitain (SRAM) and uses its online application service.

The application deadline is March 1.

Warning: The documents and payment must be submitted by the deadline.

Program start: Fall

To apply:

• Complete the SRAM online application
• Select John Abbott and the program of your choice along with the corresponding SRAM program number: 510.A0
• Upload any necessary documents directly to your online SRAM application
• Complete the Visual Arts Program admission requirements and send to visual.arts@johnabbott.qc.ca

Students whose prerequisites are more than five years old should contact the Admissions office.