Although it may not seem so during mid-terms, there is life beyond the walls of the ACC main building and its annexes on the Littleton Campus – and the future may well be in 3D.

The ACC Design and Art Center, a few blocks north of the main campus, exists and thrives despite its distance from the mothership.

ACC’s Art and Design Center, acquired in 1990, is a burgeoning community beyond the hustle and bustle of the core campus. The east door of Welcome Center, which is just off Prince Street opens to a charming, brick courtyard with tables and chairs for studying or just enjoying a moment’s respite.

“In the next year, Arapahoe Community College’s Art & Design Center faculty will build an Advanced Manufacturing degree to service the on-demand design industry which uses 3D technology to produce anything from engineering gears to everyday products,” said Chris Davis, administrative assistant for the Art and Design Center. “More information will roll out next fall.”

The former shopping center is home to Multimedia Design, Interior Design, Architectural Design and Construction Management and Engineering Graphics Technology. Included in the artistic composite are the studio arts: ceramics, painting, photography, drawing, art history, jewelry and metals.

Students who get their degrees or certificates at the center can begin careers from professional artists to technical engineers.

Each department has its own dedicated space within the center, but the visibility of adjacent centers through exterior floor to ceiling windows, generates a creative and collaborative atmosphere. The atmosphere encourages development of innovative concepts in technology and other creative pursuits inspired by visionaries.

Far-sighted staff prevents stagnation in the Arts & Design programs, introducing new degree opportunities or improving curriculum already in place along with enhancements to the instructional areas and equipment.

Within curricula already in place, concentrations work with business executives to improve programs to provide the expertise business leaders require of their employees. As an example of the collaboration between business and ACC, Graphic Design partners with the Integral Advertising Co., which represents Starbucks and Coors, to work with students on skills needed to succeed in the world of graphic design.

Recent improvements include new equipment, state of the art computer programs, renovation of classrooms and construction of an inviting Welcome Center.

Most recently, Interior Design student Cynthia Cohen won the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) 2014-2015 Student Design Competition in the “Bath Project” competition. The ACC Interior Design program is the first in Colorado to be endorsed by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA).

International Interior Design Association, Rocky Mountain Chapter (IIDA) hosted the Pret-a Porter (ready to wear in French) dress design competition. This year, a team from ACC won in Best Use of Hard Surfaces. The corporate sponsor was Mountain Trade Supply, a flooring supplying and distributing company. This unusual fashion competition pairs students with an interior product manufacturer, and the students create dresses using the manufacturer’s materials. Students create dresses made out of sponsoring interior product manufacturers’ materials from upholstery to flooring. In 2010, an ACC design team won in the National IIDA contest.

ACC offers other novel opportunities to students in the studio arts, notably ceramics and photography.

Within the Ceramics program, students have use of an electric and fire kiln and access to an open fire pit near the main campus. ACC is one of the few campuses that has its own fire pit, and impressive pieces are fired in this pit after it is layered with organic materials, including barn bedding. For the urban neophyte, barn bedding is a euphemism for the hay and/or wood shavings mixed with leavings from the animals. The finished products are unique and the patterns vary according the layering material.

The campus also has one of the last large group black-and-white darkrooms and individual color darkrooms on any college campus in Colorado. Toxic chemicals and the amount of paper used cause environmental concerns and most colleges no longer provide the darkrooms.

Throughout the year Art and Design student work is highlighted in exhibitions and shows that can be found on the Art & Design website and the ACC events calendar.

For more information on the Art and Design Center contact Chris Davis at Art & Design Center, 303-7975958 or [email protected].