Program Description

Otis College of Art and Design


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Otis prepares diverse students of art and design to enrich the world through their creativity, their skills, and their vision.

A four-year education at Otis begins with Foundation year, during which students from all majors take core studio classes: drawing and composition, figure-drawing, and two- and three-dimensional design. The philosophy is that all artists and designers need well-developed hand-eye skills and sophisticated creative-thinking skills in order to succeed. As they move into the second year, students begin to make their skills more specialized according to their intended major. Top-level studio training in all disciplines is enhanced by a liberal arts and sciences curriculum (LAS) that emphasizes cultural curiosity and intellectual rigor. The LAS classes are intended to complement and expand students’ critical thinking as they prepare for the workplaces of the future.

Faculty members who are working professionals, along with visiting artists, designers, lecturers, and writers, share a wealth of expertise and new perspectives with the diverse student population. Lectures, hands-on instruction, studio visits, and personal critiques facilitate dynamic teacher/student and student/student interactions. As part of the commitment to giving students every opportunity to succeed, Otis offers a new Learning Resource Center. Otis also offers an Honors program in liberal studies and art history.

A network of alumni includes individuals who have created such cultural icons as the first Walt Disney animated cartoons; the Academy Award–winning special effects for Lord of the Rings; products and promotional materials for Columbia, A&M, and Virgin Records; editorial illustrations and cover art for the Los Angeles Times, Time, Omni, The New Yorker, Buzz, and American Film; costumes for the Titanic, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Harry Potter and numerous Academy Award–winning films costumed by alumna Edith Head; production design for Spike Lee; and the fashion-forward imagery of such industry leaders as NIKE, Guess?, Richard Tyler, Isaac Mizrahi, Mossimo, and Anne Cole. Otis alumni are featured in major museums, such as the Whitney Museum of American Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum; Art Institute of Chicago; Corcoran Gallery of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and in galleries around the world.

Otis College of Art and Design, founded in 1918, stands as one of LA’s oldest and most important cultural institutions. Otis is proud of its long traditions. Its growth and dynamic character demonstrate the long-term commitment of the College, its faculty members, and its administration as well as the solid support of the art, design, and philanthropic communities. Today’s Otis students are artists and designers dedicated to developing technical, critical, and creative skills that can lead them into the future.

Program Facilities

The new Galef Center for Fine Arts houses painting and sculpture studios, photo/video studios, and individual student spaces. Other facilities include wood/metal/plastic shops; expanded industry-standard Mac/Windows lab and scanning, large-scale output, and 3-D laser modeling; video/sound editing; lithography/etching presses; the city’s oldest, most renowned college fine arts press; extensive library holdings in fine art, design, art history, humanities, critical studies, and periodicals; visual resources center; and Graduate Studios.

Faculty and Visiting Artists

Professional faculty members include fashion, toy, digital, and product designers; architects; photographers; and fine artists, among them Roy Dowell, Annette Kapon, Suzanne Lacy, Linda Pollari, Harry Mott, Martin Caveza, Steve McAdam, Ave Pildas, Rosemary Brantley, Scott Grieger, Holly Tempo, Carole Caroompas, Linda Burnham, Judie Bamber, Meg Cranston, Dana Duff, Linda Hudson, Larry Johnson, Debra Ballard, Parme Giutini, Heather Joseph-Witham, and Paul Vangelisti. Guest lecturers and visiting artists/designers include Dave Hickey, Alexis Smith, Barbara Kruger, Dan Graham, Rod Beatty, Bob Mackie, Jeremy Scott, Eduardo Lucero, and Isabel Toldeo.

Student Exhibit Opportunities

Students have the opportunity to exhibit their work at numerous locations and functions, such as the Abe and Helen Bolsky Gallery, extensive informal exhibit space in the Galef Center, the annual senior show in all departments, the MFA exhibition, local and national competitions, juried fashion shows, the annual literary magazine, and the Otis Design and Illustration Groups.

Special Programs

Special Programs include the Summer of Art precollege program; summer study in Pont-Aven, France; the Spring Paris trip for Foundation students; internship opportunities in all departments; OTIS-LA, an intensive language and acculturation program designed for incoming international students; and community outreach through Otis Evening College. A new fine arts program, ACT (Artists, Community, and Teaching), gives students an introduction to teaching art as a social practice and as a career path.

Housing

The College recently added Otis Housing, which is based in a nearby luxury apartment complex and overseen by the Student Affairs Office. Geared toward first-year students, the apartments are two-bedroom/two-bath units that are shared by 4 students. Paid utilities, secure parking, T1 access, and full kitchens, along with a pool, spa, and recreation facilities, make Otis Housing attractive and comfortable. Residence Life staff members live in the complex.

Campuses

Otis College of Art and Design’s Goldsmith Campus consists of the Galef Center for Fine Arts (housing the School of Fine Arts) and Kathleen Ahmanson Hall (housing Architecture/Landscape/Interiors, Communication Arts, Digital Media, Interactive Product Design, and Toy Design). The campus is located on Los Angeles’ Westside. Nearby are the communities of Venice and Santa Monica, home to many prominent fine arts studios and galleries. The location of the Goldsmith campus and the nearby Graduate Studios places students in the center of the vital, international artistic/design community that fuels the Los Angeles fine arts, toy, digital media, and product design worlds.

Otis School of Fashion is located in LA’s downtown fashion district within the California Mart Center that is headquarters for many fashion collections and vendors. This places students’ day-to-day activities in a unique relationship to an industry that is in need of talented and well-educated designers. The program’s structure brings in top designers to work as mentors with junior and senior students on projects from children’s sports and swimwear categories to finely tailored men’s and glamorous women’s evening wear. The annual Otis Scholarship Benefit Fashion Show is an important fashion industry and celebrity event that showcases the best work created by students.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: continuous. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: continuous. Required: essay, high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, portfolio, SAT or ACT test scores, minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper-based), 79 (internet), 213 (computer-based) for international applicants 79/internet, minimum 2.5 high school GPA/college GPA. Recommended: minimum 3.0 high school GPA, 2 letters of recommendation, interview. Auditions held 1 time. Portfolio reviews held continuously on campus and off campus in National Portfolio Days; the submission of slides may be substituted for portfolios (slides or CDs/DVDs preferred).

Undergraduate Contact

Mr. Marc D. Meredith, Dean of Admissions, Admissions Office, Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90045; 310-665-6820, fax: 310-665-6821.

Graduate Contact

Graduate Studies, Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90045; 310-665-6892, fax: 310-665-6890.