Congratulations to Jessie Storm, a graduate from our group of Broadcasting students who completed their training through Columbia Academy at VanArts. She has landed her first major radio job, and in this video she tells us about it and how our program helped her reach her goals.

Contact us today to find out more about our Broadcasting program! 

Coming up soon from March 5 - 9, 2012 is our annual Media Arts Boot Camp, a work experience program for BC high school students.  Selected recruits will have the opportunity to receive 5 days of hands-on training in one of these two courses:

Broadcasting for Radio & Television

Acting for Film & Television

For full descriptions, more details and application form, click here >>

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! 

Students in the Broadcasting for Radio & Television program from Columbia Academy @ VanArts received a special guest lecture today by local radio broadcaster Gerry O'Day from AM650's Morning Show. 

Gerry O'Day has been working in radio for nearly 35 years, both in Saskatchewan and in British Columbia, including work as music director for CFOX and many other stations. Our students' current show format is Boss Radio Oldies 102, so Gerry spoke to us about tricks of the trade in today's market for oldies stations.

You can listen in to our students LIVE from 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm Monday to Friday at VanArtsBroadcasting on Ustream.