At VanArts, our mission, newly displayed in our front lobby, is "to contribute to the development of the individual student's artistic and career potential by bringing together world-class instructors to teach, inspire, motivate and pass their knowledge on to students and support the development of their talents and realization of their dreams in the visual, media and performing arts."

As fulfillment of this mission, we have recently received some encouraging comments from students and graduates in our full-time programs.

Britton Nosbisch, currently studying in our Visual Effects program, says, “While living in Nashville, I spent 18 months doing research on schools for Visual Effects. As part of this research, I flew out to Los Angeles twice and applied to another school in Vancouver.  The schools I investigated in downtown Hollywood (not a very glamorous place) were in the area of $80,000 in tuition and the facilities were comical at that price compared to the Vancouver schools I looked at.

After deciding upon Vancouver and being accepted to a major school there, I discovered some testimonies by many of their graduates who had been very frustrated with the large numbers of students & intakes being held every few months.  It began sounding more like a big-name factory pushing people through to collect their tuition. After staying up all night reading these comments, I took another look at VanArts, which had only two intakes a year and more reasonable class sizes.  I sent them an e-mail and got a call from their Director of Admissions within 10 minutes. She thoroughly listened to my dilemma, explained what they have to offer, and asked if I'd like to speak with the Head of the Visual Effects Department.  It was great being able to do this so quickly, and I was impressed by his knowledge of the industry, of Maya software across both gaming and film platforms, and the fact that all of the instructors are working professionals from the major studios. 

Overall, I was simply encouraged by VanArts to make the best decision for myself and what I was looking for in my search for a school, and after 8 months of the program here, I can assure you I've become more confident in my investment every day. The one-on-one time I get with professionals that are excited to help me succeed is simply unmatched!”

As for our graduates, the stories speak for themselves.  A graduate from our 2D Character Animation program wrote us saying, "As a current intern with a high profile studio in Hollywood, I realized how much I learned about Story in just one year at VanArts.  I am better prepared than most of the others who attended four-year programs at other schools.  Go VanArts!" 

Click here to read the latest stories about our graduates who have gone forth to realize their dream careers!

...and contact us today to get started on your own! 

On September 6, 2011 we welcomed a record number of full-time students to VanArts in our programs for Character Animation, Game Art & Design, Visual Effects, Digital Photography, Acting, and Web Development & Interactive Design. We are also looking forward to welcoming new students in Broadcasting for Radio & TV on September 22.

Orientation was followed by a student mixer in our studio, and classes are now well underway!  Welcome to everyone, and we look forward to your time with us this year.

VanArts has started a gallery of videos at ArtShuffle.ca, a new artistic sharing and community website launched by the Knowledge Network, BC's viewer-supported public broadcaster, who will feature certain selections for airing on television in 2011.

Check our our ArtShuffle page at the link below, where you can view samples of our newest student work and episodes of our Inside VanArts web video series.

VanArts @ ArtShuffle.ca

More new reels are continually being added so keep checking back for more! 

For Episode 17 of 'Inside VanArts' we are proud to present this first look at our new one-year diploma program for Web Development & Interactive Design.

Applications are now being accepted for upcoming start dates in September 2011, March 2012 and beyond.  Contact us today to get started.