ACTIVE AGENTS OF CHANGE
PORTLAND, OREGON IS A COMMUNITY-MINDED CITY WHERE CREATIVES WORK TOGETHER TOWARD A MORE SUPPORTIVE AND EQUITABLE FUTURE.
The Portland community is deeply invested in trying to create a more equitable and just experience for everyone. As a center of creative culture in Portland, PNCA's artists and designers are engaged in a critical dialogue of conventional systems and institutions. We constantly seek new ways to promote empathy and celebrate the different lived experiences that make our community strong and beautiful. And, we show up! We're a community not afraid to gather in the streets to realize our collective power.
We are driven by the vibrant artistic energy of the region, sharing in the emphasis on visual art, design, performance, music, and stopmotion animation. And we are committed to upholding the Pacific Northwest’s identity by preserving and spending time in our region’s wild natural spaces.
Not to mention Portland’s celebration of diversity through food. The spirit of creativity and experimentation extends into the food carts and restaurants that abound in Portland, all supported by the organic agriculture thriving in the surrounding Willamette Valley.
Portland is an ideal incubator for collaboration, exploring bold ideas, and taking risks. Our creative community is a place of interconnectivity, where you can explore, collaborate, and evolve your life-long creative practice.
TEN BFA PROGRAMS, ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.
There are no lecture halls at PNCA. Your professors are working artists and designers with real world experience and connections. Class sizes are small, allowing students and faculty to share in their passion for creativity and elevate one another’s work through meaningful critiques and mentorship.
In every major, you will develop creative, technical, and professional skills, productive studio habits, and the ability to communicate and collaborate. You will learn to think critically about your own work, the work of others, and the world beyond.
MAJORS
Animated Arts
Creative Writing
General Fine Arts
Graphic Design
Illustration
Intermedia
Painting Photography Printmaking Sculpture
MINORS
Art and Ecology
Art History
Ceramics
Creative Writing Fashion
Game
Graphic Design
Painting and Drawing
Photography Stop-Motion
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Art + Science Initiative
Center for Design
International Studies
Creative Technology Lab
Watershed Fine Art Publishing
ANIMATED ARTS
Animated Arts invites you to reimagine ways to create framebased work by combining fine art creative practices and digital technology.
Our production-based program is designed to build skills in both animation principles and ideation, allowing students to develop a strong personal voice and style to drive projects and collaborative productions. Student work includes character-driven narrative, poetic experimental, non-fiction documentary, gaming, gallery installation, and interactive projection. Facilities support 2D drawn, 3D digital, stop-motion animation and fabrication, AR/ VR, and animation for gaming. Visiting artists, creative thinkers, and innovative technicians from Portland’s lively animation scene enrich the learning experience and create bridges to post PNCA career opportunities.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
KELLY
WITT
Kelly Witt is an animator and musician from Southern California. Kelly works in 2D animation, visual development, and environment design, with the vision of becoming a director in the animated arts industry. Her work focuses on themes like optimism, empathy, and world-building, often highlighting the beauty found in scary or apocalyptic worlds. Recently, she was nominated for a Princess Grace Award.
Top Right: Kelly Witt Bottom Right: Ava Stapleton
CREATIVE WRITING
Within a school for art and design, Creative Writing offers a unique opportunity to explore the written word’s relationship to contemporary art through interdisciplinary and hybrid forms.
Innovation, experimentation, and crossing creative boundaries to develop a unique writing style are fundamental elements of the program. PNCA writers are encouraged to defy tradition and push back against conventional wisdom, evolving the long tradition of writing. Creative Writing at PNCA prepares students for careers as creative professionals by focusing on the craft of writing in the context of a variety of media platforms, including print, digital, illustration, graphic design, animation, video, and sound.
Alumni Spotlight MATTHEW LAYNG
Matthew Layng is a poet and sculptor. After spending time abroad honing his creative skills, he returned to Oregon where he is the director of The Orchards, a sculpture park and exhibition space. His work has been exhibited at Cranbrook.
Top and Bottom Left: Madeleine Barbier
GENERAL FINE ARTS
General
Fine Arts offers broad exposure to the studio arts, with a focus on materials and processes, encouraging
you
to explore widely while developing competencies in multiple art practices.
The GFA program offers students the opportunity to experiment with different mediums and cultivate a boundary-crossing artistic style. Because creative styles and careers are continually evolving, GFA encourages aspiring artists to try both traditional and emerging techniques. You will gain experience working in a variety of mediums from painting to printmaking while broadening your perspective and developing your critical analysis skills. In this program, you will learn how to be adaptable and gain an entrepreneurial outlook. GFA is a curricular pathway that enables students to take classes from all other BFA departments.
Alumni Spotlight ARIES BROCK
Aries Brock is a Portland-based artist whose work is based on experience and fueled by community. He mixes mediums to express his point of view, combining materials such as pastels with sewn fabric garments. As a student, Aries gained professional experience and saw his work released into the world when he secured a coveted spot working with Argyle Winery as part of PNCA’s long-running partnership with the brand. With the goal of making collaboration part of his practice long-term, Aries seeks out a variety of opportunities to work with fellow artists.
Top Right: Bridget Zamani
Bottom Right: Aries Brock
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graphic Design pushes the boundaries of visual communication while rooting you in understanding the vital relationship between medium and message.
Graphic design is, at its core, the art of visual communication. While the curriculum of the graphic design program is rooted in the fundamentals of type and composition, we encourage students to find the right form for their message by pushing the boundaries of what design can be. Students can expand their work by incorporating elements from different artistic mediums including photography, animation, printmaking, and illustration, as well as interactive design. Projects ranging from print to web to experimental forms prepare students to enter a rapidly evolving field.
Alumni Spotlight TRUNG BAO
Trung Bao is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and designer. He is a co-founder of the design collective Fustic. Studio where he produces visuals and experiences for music events, exhibitions, and commercials. Fustic has worked with people and brands such as Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Adidas, Adult Swim, Awkwafina, and Eric Andre. Trung Bao is also the World Beatbox Camp Solo Champion, American Vice Beatbox Champion 2016, and placed top 4 in the Grand Beatbox Battle 2017.
Top Left: Trung Bao
Bottom Left: Anna Volk
ILLUSTRATION
Our underlying philosophy is experience and encounter, inviting students to deeply investigate the interplay of image-making, design thinking, and social engagement.
Illustration has always situated itself in the intersection of art and design. The Illustration curriculum allows each student to thoroughly investigate the multiple facets of illustration as an art form. Twentyfirst century illustrators have moved beyond simply illustrating stories in books and magazines, and are conceptualizers, character designers, world builders, game designers, problem solvers, storytellers, and innovative imagemakers in industries ranging from publishing to fashion to animation to virtual reality. From analog and digital media to conceptual development and cultural literacy, the program incorporates a wide range of skills to help students develop a personal style.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SUBIN YANG
Subin Yang is an NYC-based illustrator. She works as a freelance artist and has worked with a wide variety of clients from major businesses to independent companies. During her time at PNCA, she developed a unique style that makes use of bright colors and loose lines and reflects themes of home culture and identity. Her clients include Google, The New Yorker, The MET, Amnesty International, Bon Appétit Magazine, WeWork, NBC, Ban.do, and Design Week Portland.
Top Left: Dylan Mead
Top Right: Cormac Power
Bottom Right: Subin Yang
INTERMEDIA
Intermedia offers a researchfocused and conceptually driven program.
Students in the Intermedia program receive personalized mentorship as they design an interdisciplinary pathway, incorporating the art and design practices of their choosing. Utilizing every lab and studio on campus, students build their understanding of existing techniques while developing skills in emergent practices. These practices are often tied to experimentation, problemsolving, and verbal and written communication skills. Innovative faculty as well as visiting artists, designers, and scholars mentor students as they synthesize art and design’s existing and emerging strategies into a unique creative practice. Students go on to work in creative, commercial, non-profit, corporate, academic, and cultural organizations with a nimble ability to lead, collaborate, and innovate in a rapidly changing world.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT ALEJANDRA ARIAS SEVILLA
Alejandra Arias Sevilla is an interdisciplinary artist and printer based in Portland, Oregon. Her work has been shown with the Nat Turner Project, Black Fish Gallery, and Converge 45. She is the 2021 awardee of the Undergrowth Educational Print Fund at Mullowney Printing and the Stelo Letterpress Residency.
Top Left: Alejandra Arias Sevilla
Bottom Left: Ilish Bath
PAINTING
Painting begins with the development of core observational and compositional skills, including the use of painting and drawing materials.
Throughout the program, students build on their foundational understanding of painting principles to achieve mastery within the discipline and explore broad interdisciplinary study. Electives in Illustration, Printmaking, and Graphic Design are encouraged to enhance professional opportunities. Our faculty of professional artists support and challenge students as they develop an individual vision, voice, and mastery of forms through rigorous studio practice. Visiting artists, lectures, and critical discourse broaden students’ perspectives and stimulate investigations into the historical, cultural, aesthetic, and theoretical contexts of the field.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SADÉ DUBOISE
Sadé DuBoise is a Portlandbased painter. Her work has been acquired by several organizations in the region including the Portland Art Museum, Regional Arts and Cultural Council, North Clackamas School District, and King School Museum of Contemporary Art. She has also been highlighted in OPB Oregon Art Beat and has exhibited at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. She uses her practice as a place to reflect on her identity, existence, and life experiences.
Top Right: Sadé Duboise Bottom Right: Shannon Driscoll
Top: Joshen Bonifacio
Bottom: Hannah Rosa Lewis-Lopes
PHOTOGRAPHY
To be a photographer today is to place yourself in the center of a world where image-making possibilities are endless and where you can decide when to embrace tradition and when to reject it.
Photography is a primary form of communication in today’s visual world. In the Photography program, students will explore the infinite possibilities in contemporary image-making by building a strong foundation in analog and digital techniques and lighting strategies. Our curriculum balances practical skills with theory and critical analysis to enable students to develop a personal style and perspective. Courses examine photography’s broad range of contexts in society as well as the ethics and personal responsibility of photographers. Students explore how the language of photography can be a tool for social justice and cultural analysis.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
HANNAH ROSA LEWIS-LOPES
Hannah Rosa Lewis-Lopes is a New York-based commercial and editorial photographer. Her personal work often uses still life to explore the tension and disconnect between human interaction and the often unspoken rules of social behavior. Some of the clients she has worked with include InStyle Magazine and Warby Parker. Her work has been featured in Wrap Magazine and several books by Broccoli Magazine. Her life-size installation Copycat was showcased at the White Gallery in Portland, highlighting her ability to translate her photographic vision into immersive art experiences.
PRINTMAKING
Printmaking immerses students in traditional and contemporary methods, processes, and ideas related to the constantly evolving medium of visual art and design.
Through a rich, interdisciplinary studio experience, students will explore intaglio, lithography, relief printing, screenprinting, monotype, letterpress, book-making, artist publications, digital, and 3D printing. Our program values community, exposing students to diverse perspectives as well as a wide range of technologies. By delving into tradition and focusing on experimentation and the potential of the multiple, students develop a personal voice to communicate ideas and themes through their prints.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
ANGELICA TRIMBLE-YANU
Angelica Trimble-Yanu is a printmaker and sculptor whose practice blends traditional techniques with emerging technology. Her work pushes the boundaries of printmaking and often incorporates other media such as video and performance. Her unique style is continually evolving as technology advances and has caught the eye of industry leaders. She was recently hired by Google to design art for one of their biggest stores in California. She has also served as a visiting artist for the Oregon Art Literacy program, sharing her practice with children at the Metzger and Bridgeport Elementary Schools.
Top Right: Angelica Trimble-Yanu Bottom Right: Sarah Kochis
SCULPTURE
Sculpture is a radically hybrid medium where traditional craft meets innovative tools, processes, and novel ideas about what an object can be.
In the Sculpture program, students are encouraged to investigate a dynamic spectrum of sculptural methods and techniques, develop unique presentational strategies, and acquire a rich material literacy. These investigations can exist as stand-alone objects, design prototypes, site specific engagements, multiples, wearable forms, performance props, installations, functional wares, and any number of other articulations yet to be realized. Access to our fabrication labs, presentations, and workshops with visiting artists, designers, craftspeople, critics, and curators enrich the experience, so students become engaged, skilled thinkers and makers.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SAGE CORTEZ
Sage Cortez is a designer, ceramicist, and craftswoman. Her one-woman business, Hand + Fire, was founded in 2016 while she was still a student at PNCA and produces small-batch functional tableware. Today, Sage is a full-time maker whose hand-crafted, one of a kind pieces elevate tableware to art. She is a self-employed business owner who runs her own studio space and online shop. She also offers video demonstrations showcasing how to make different pieces of pottery, sharing her practice with the community.
Top Left: Megita Denton Bottom Left: Sage Cortez
Glass Building: 3D, Sculpture, Ceramic, Wood, and Textile Studios
MINORS
Minors help you deepen understanding, broaden the scope of your education through the intentional selection of targeted classes, and communicate your focus in the future.
Minors are open to students in all majors. Completing a minor does not require you to take additional courses. You'll simply make your course selections to fulfill the requirements of the minor, choosing from a wide range of 3-credit courses for a total of 15 credits. You'll work with your Academic Advisor to create an individualized plan that outlines how the minor fits into your course of study and ensures that your curricular choices support your goals and interests.
ART AND ECOLOGY
In this interdisciplinary minor, you’ll develop a broad understanding of pressing issues and their relationship to the social, political, cultural, and economic systems that impact the future of humanity, other species, and our shared planet. You'll understand how your own work as an artist or a designer can comment on, interact with, and impact the world.
Course highlights: ECOLOGY AND RESILIENCE, PERFORMANCE, CAPITALISM AND ECOLOGY
ART HISTORY
Art History examines the breadth of human creativity and considers how it influences and reflects the culture of its time. Power, myth, science, religion, philosophy, and technique are all included. By delving into historical and contemporary artistic tenets and their social contexts, you’ll gain a richer and more diverse visual arsenal which will sharpen your critical faculties and help you develop a deeper understanding of your own work. The Art History minor includes writing and research skills that prepare you for graduate study and professional careers.
Course highlights: HISTORY OF ANIMATION, LGBTQ+ ART HISTORY, EXPLORING VISUAL CULTURE, HISTORY OF DESIGN ARTS
CERAMICS
In this minor, you can choose to focus on clay as a dynamic sculptural medium or material for fabricating wares and functional objects as you develop skills and techniques while gaining a broader understanding of historical precedents and contemporary practices. You’ll work in our ceramics studio with seasoned pros to deepen your practice or expand outward into new pathways including entrepreneurial studio strategies. Course highlights: CERAMICS 1-3, MOLDMAKING, EXPERIMENTING WITH MATERIALS
CREATIVE WRITING
Through creative writing studio classes, you’ll explore experimental writing practices, including using language as a visual medium and incorporating writing into visual work, as well as those focused on contemporary forms of fiction, poetry, and scriptwriting.
Course highlights: INTRO TO SHORT FORMS, SCREENWRITING, WRITING WITH DIGITAL MEDIA
FASHION
Fashion is a minor with a multidisciplinary approach. We encourage students to delve into material exploration, garment construction, fabric manipulation and embellishment, silkscreen printing, pattern drafting and draping, textiles, concept development, and fashion sketching. The minor invites you to consider fashion as an embedded aspect of contemporary society while exploring the garment itself from many perspectives including costuming, wearable technology, textile design, soft sculpture, performance, and body augmentation
Course highlights: SEWING CONSTRUCTION, PRINTING ON FABRIC, TEXTILE RELIEF & SCREENPRINT
GAME
Gaming in both analog and digital formats is one of the most relevant and pervasive forms of entertainment worldwide. Beyond its role in entertainment, social scientists and cultural anthropologists alike have identified gaming as a dominant form of finding and building community in contemporary society, using game culture as an expressive means
of connecting with others. In this minor, you’ll develop a general understanding of the philosophies, systems, and mechanics utilized in contemporary game and interactive design while becoming familiar with processes for research, experimentation, design, prototyping, and production. Course highlights: ENVIRONMENTS & ARCHITECTURE, CHARACTER DESIGN, SCRIPTING INTENSIVE, INTERACTIVE AESTHETICS
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Design shapes the way we interact with the world around us. The same skills that designers use working with clients can also be used to “move” people–for more powerful communication, or to create social change. This minor is a way for you to gain fundamental graphic design techniques working with typography and visual systems for a range of technology. You will also gain core skills in ideation, critical evaluation, and revision that you can take into a broad range of careers. A minor in graphic design will give you a general understanding of the many possibilities within design and help you learn to speak the language of design for fruitful collaboration.
Course highlights: SIGNS & SYMBOLS, TYPOGRAPHY, CULTURE & AUDIENCE, BRAND & MARKETING
PAINTING & DRAWING
Artists practice drawing across genres and disciplines to translate ideas to form. Drawing in its capacity as an exploratory medium is nearly universal. The drawing minor offers the opportunity for sustained study and practice of drawing, supporting both practices: drawing as exploration and drawing as form.
Course highlights: MURAL PAINTING, THE FIGURE, ADVANCED DRAWING: PROCESS AND IDEA, DRAWING SEMINAR: SYSTEMS, STRATEGIES, STRUCTURE
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographic skills have endless applications and are increasingly valuable in a marketplace that relies on photography as a central form of communication. A photography minor offers the chance for students to deepen their technical knowledge and conceptual engagement with the medium of photography in their practice. Photo classes address a range of professional and artistic goals that students bring: using
photography in dialogue with other media, exploring analog processes in the darkroom, or developing a strong portfolio demonstrating lighting techniques. This minor is an opportunity for you to focus on an aspect of photography that would best complement your aspirations.
Course highlights: CONCEPT/CAPTURE/PRINT, STUDIO LIGHTING, PHOTOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATIONS
STOP-MOTION ANIMATION
Stop-motion minors gain experience in a quickly growing field. It is wellsuited for cross-media exploration with other majors and minors, from sculpture to fashion to illustration. Our curriculum has an open studio format, allowing students to gain a basic understanding of animation and explore pathways toward puppet fabrication, costuming, set construction, lighting, rigging, cinema, prop sculpture, character development, storyboarding, and animating. With a general knowledge of animation, students can build out their portfolio by demonstrating specific stop-motion craft skills imbued with their creative spark. Portland is an animation town, with three
stop-motion features in production this last year alone. We regularly invite local industry professionals to share their work and expertise.
Course highlights:
BEGINNING
STOP-MOTION, ADVANCED STOP-MOTION, PUPPET FABRICATION, PRODUCTION CO-LAB
LIBERAL ARTS
Our Liberal Arts courses broaden your understanding of the world and introduce you to multiple perspectives, views, histories, and experiences.
Liberal Arts courses inspire curiosity and new lines of critical inquiry while fortifying your intellectual foundation. You'll read, research, share what you’ve learned, and engage in impassioned discussion. You'll learn to synthesize strands of knowledge in a cohesive, elegant manner and to frame and articulate questions and complex ideas.
HISTORY
ART HISTORY
PHILOSOPHY
GENDER STUDIES
LITERATURE
WRITING
MATH SCIENCE
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Transformative international research and learning opportunities prepare you for an interconnected world.
The Office of International Education believes transformative international research and learning opportunities prepare you for an interconnected world. We recognize how important it is for students at a 21st-century art school to develop an awareness of diverse cultures, a sensitivity to cultural difference, and awareness of culture’s formative effects. The OIE supports this learning for both international students studying at PNCA and for students studying abroad.
Studying internationally can be a life-changing experience. You’ll learn about a different culture, broaden your education with new perspectives, and develop an international network of friends and contacts. On a personal level,
your time spent outside of PNCA gives you a new perspective on your own culture and a new understanding of art. The skills you learn abroad can give you a competitive edge in today’s job market as you develop an ability to adapt to diverse situations.
OIE facilitates international learning opportunities including both shortterm and semester-long programs as well as international exchanges, collaborations, and the promotion of on-campus intercultural experiences. Our Global Learning and Diversity Development (GLADD) Initiative makes global learning opportunities accessible to more students through increased financial support.
FOUR YEAR FLOW
YEAR ONE
FOUNDATION YEAR
In your Foundation Year, you’ll be immersed from day one in media of all kinds—from drawing, design, and sculpture, to digital tools, video, and performance. It’s a year of discovery, a time to explore new ways of making and thinking while integrating into your new community. Along the way, you’ll develop the skills and habits that will help you thrive at PNCA and beyond.
YEARS TWO + THREE
SOPHOMORE AND JUNIOR YEARS
In your Sophomore and Junior years, you’ll take courses from within your chosen major. But, we also encourage you to take courses in departments across the college. By studying related histories and broadly exploring the contemporary, you’ll expand your ideas for your work and the impact it can make in the world. Just as importantly, you’ll learn to think critically about your work and others through a robust critique process where you give and take constructive feedback regularly. Whatever major you choose, you will develop creative, technical, professional skills, productive studio habits, and the ability to communicate, collaborate, and think critically.
YEAR FOUR
SENIOR YEAR
Senior Year means Thesis at PNCA: the time, support, and resources to plan and produce a significant body of work or ambitious project. With the support of faculty, your peers, and a mentor who works with you one-on-one, you’ll develop a detailed proposal for your project during the first semester and produce it in the second. During your midterm review, you’ll present your work-inprogress to visiting professionals.
FOCUS WEEK
Your senior year is an exciting time of transition from student to professional artist or designer.
During Focus Week, you’ll install your completed thesis work and make a presentation before a panel of professional artists or designers. For Focus Week, classes are suspended, and the whole PNCA community—students, staff, and faculty—comes together to support seniors as they present their thesis projects.
Assignment Highlight
Foundation 3D: Cardboard Couture
Every semester as part of the Foundation curriculum, 3D students take to the "runway" to present their cardboard couture creations to the enjoyment of the entire campus.
A PLAYGROUND FOR ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS.
PNCA's campus, galleries, labs, and facilities provide all of the spaces and tools needed to produce and exhibit nearly any work. From an expansive print studio to Creative Technology
Lab's array of high tech tools, we've got you covered.
PNCA's Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design
The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design is a 100-year-old former federal post office we’ve renovated with a striking, contemporary design that brings natural light into nearly every working space in the building.
Creative Technology Lab
We embrace the possibilities of creative technology for artists and designers.
Creative Technology Lab is a technology-focused research studio, institute, creative incubator, and lab that brings together members of Portland’s vibrant creative, tech, civic, and educational communities to explore the powerful role that creativity and technology play in the search for imaginative and impactful solutions to complex and urgent problems.
Emphasizing the skills of the future, Creative Technology Lab is an outlet to build fluency with emerging technologies, creativity, design-thinking, research, and collaboration. These skills prepare students to succeed in our growing regional and national creative technology industries.
As a hands-on studio, it offers students, as well as Portland’s creative and tech communities, opportunities to learn and explore emerging technologies, augmented and virtual reality, (digital) fabrication and prototyping, creative coding, data science, systems-thinking, the internet of things, smart technologies, creative entrepreneurship, STEAM, and privacy and security. In addition, a wide range of workshops, institutes, hackathons, and design challenges are offered to foster collaboration and leverage creativity and technology in new and innovative ways.
Galleries, Labs, and Facilities
GALLERIES
511 Gallery
157 Gallery
Dorothy Lemelson Innovation Lab
Glass Gallery
Commons Corner Gallery 1 and Corner Gallery 2 Atrium
Shipley/Collins Mediatheque
M31 Mezzanine
Holt Gallery
Design Corridor
B10 Gallery
Tiny Thumb
LABS AND FACILITIES
Animated Arts Lab
Wacom Lab
Gilkey Center for Printmaking
Print Production Center
Documentation Studio
Painting Studios
Sound Lab
Creative Technology Lab
Digital Print Studio
Media Resource Center
Photography Lab
Riso Studio
Glass Building: 3D, Sculpture, Ceramic, Wood, and Textile Studios
Galleries, Labs, and Facilities
OFFICE OF CAREER DESIGN Career Services
Preparing for tomorrow—today!
We support your development as a professional artist or designer during your time at PNCA and throughout your career.
We empower you to take risks and pursue professional experiences that will enrich your working life and creative practice. It’s our goal that you will leave PNCA as a capable, self-reliant professional with experience in the form of internships. Along the way, you’ll have access to resources that include workshops, information sessions, one-onone career advising, networking opportunities, and a strong alumni network to support your professional development.
We fold career preparation into every academic program and empower students with practical
knowledge and networks for life after PNCA. To connect you with other artists, designers, makers, and business owners, we work with community partners who open their doors to PNCA students and alumni for learning experiences, including informational interviews and behind-the-scenes tours.
Investing in a PNCA education has prepared our alumni for successful careers in art, design, communications, marketing, arts administration, education, business, community work, information technology, and software engineering.
DESIGN
We fold career preparation into every academic program and empower you with practical knowledge and professional networks for life after PNCA.
• Taxes for Artists
• Networking
• Understanding Copyright
• Contracts
• Negotiation 101
• Grant Writing
• Writing a Résumé/CV
• Interview Skill Development
• Building a Professional Portfolio
• Applying to Graduate Schools
• Internship Opportunities
• Job Fairs
• Running a Creative Business
Ready for the real world
CREATIVE CAREERS
Animator
Apparel Developer
Art Director
Artist
App Designer
Brand Consultant
Brand Development Designer
Ceramicist
Character Artist
Comic Artist
Communications Director
Creative Director
Curator
Design Director
Editor
Editorial Designer
Entrepreneur
Experience Designer
Fine Art Printer
Furniture Designer
Gallerist
Graphic Designer
Graphic Novelist
Illustrator
Interactive Designer
Logo Designer
Marketing Specialist
Painter
Producer
Production Artist
Photographer
Professor
Promotional Designer
Sculptor
Social Media Director
Sound Engineer
Storyboard Artist
Textile Designer
Type Designer
UI Designer/UX Designer
Videographer
Video Editor
Website Designer
Writer
ARTHOUSE Contemporary Student Housing
PNCA’s Residence Life program provides a supportive and vibrant environment with in-house social and academic activities as well as events that connect students to the life, culture, and art of Portland.
The Residence Life program includes live-in Resident Advisors (RAs) trained to cultivate a safe and healthy community for our residents.
ArtHouse is our dedicated student housing apartment building within blocks of PNCA’s main campus building, the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design. ArtHouse features private and shared studios or two-bedroom apartments with
in-room washers and dryers. The building has a secure entry system and bike garage. ArtHouse also offers high-speed internet and includes all utilities.
Nearby are plenty of food options, including restaurants, diners, food carts, the weekend farmers market, and two organic groceries. Portland Streetcar lines, lightrail lines, and bus routes are within blocks of ArtHouse.
ArtHouse
Admissions + Financial Aid
We are committed to making college affordable and accessible for more students.
PNCA is a community that will challenge you to do more and to radically reimagine EVERYTHING. Our process for admissions is structured to help us identify prospective students who possess the skills, motivation, and potential to be innovative artists and designers.
DATES, DEADLINES, & HOW TO APPLY
Applications are submitted through our website. Please visit: pnca.willamette.edu/apply
Admissions Office: 503-821-8972 pncaadmissions@willamette.edu
TUITION & FEES
pnca.willamette.edu/bfatuition
SCHOLARSHIPS, FAFSA, & FINANCIAL AID finaid@willamette.edu
GENERAL QUESTIONS & VISITING PNCA pncaadmissions@willamette.edu
To schedule an in-person or virtual tour of our campus: willamette.edu/go/visit-pnca
MISSION
We prepare students for a life of creative practice.
ACCREDITATION
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).
MEMBERSHIP
PNCA is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (aicad.org) and the National Portfolio Day Association (nationalportfolioday.org).
NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
PNCA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, physical disability, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and other school-administered programs. The College admits qualified individuals without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, physical disability, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.
Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design 511 NW Broadway, Portland, Oregon 97209 pnca.willamette.edu
OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS