Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within downtown Toronto. The university is a co-educational institution which operates three academic faculties, the Faculty of Art, the Faculty of Arts and Science, and the Faculty of Design. The university also provides continuing education services through its School of Continuing Studies.
Established in 1876 as the Ontario School of Art by the Ontario Society of Artists, it is the oldest operating school in Canada dedicated to art education. The institution was renamed twice in 1886 and 1890 before it was granted a provincial charter and renamed the Ontario College of Art (OCA) in 1912. The institution was known as the OCA until 1996 when it was renamed the Ontario College of Art and Design. The institution was granted university status in 2002 and was empowered to grant certain academic degrees. University was adopted as a part of the institution's name in 2010, to reflect its change in status. In 2020, the university was empowered with full degree-granting authority from the Government of Ontario.
In 2021, there were 4,600 undergraduates and 390 graduate students enrolled at the university. As of 2022, the university holds an association with over 25,000 alumni.
History
The institution was established by the Ontario Society of Artists in 1876 as the Ontario School of Art, whose objective it was to provide professional artistic training, and further the development of art education in Ontario. The Ontario Society of Artists passed the motion to "draw up a scheme" for a school of art on 4 April 1876, and the first Ontario School of Art opened on 30 October 1876, funded by a government grant of $1,000. The school opened at 14 King Street West with an initial enrolment of 14 students.
Thomas Mower Martin was the founding director until 1879. Robert Harris taught at the school as did William Cruikshank, who also served as president from 1884 to 1886.
In 1882, the provincial department of education assumed control over the institution and relocated the school to the Toronto Normal School building. In 1886, the school was relocated to another location on Queen and Yonge Street, and renamed the Toronto Art School.
The Ontario Society of Artists resumed its sponsorship of the institution in 1890 and relocated the institution to 173 King Street West, occupying the upper levels of the Princess Theatre building, and shared the premises with the Art Museum of Toronto. The society reopened the school as the Central Ontario School of Art and Industrial Design.
20th century
In 1910, the school was relocated to 1 College Street as a result of the Princess Theatre's demolition.
In 1912, the institution was granted a charter by the province and incorporated as the Ontario College of Art (OCA) and was relocated back to the Toronto Normal School. The new charter granted the institution the authority to issue diplomas. George Agnew Reid was named the school's first principal. Reid designed the first building owned by the college, a purpose-built two-storey building fronting onto Grange Park. The building was the "first building in Canada built specifically for the education of professional artists and designers." The college relocated to the new property in 1921.
As a part of Reid's wider efforts to have visual arts accepted as a part of the province's education system, Reid had pushed for the OCA to become a constituent college of the University of Toronto so OCA students could obtain degrees. However, the potential amalgamation was never pursued.
In 1945, the school established a design school, broadening its education mandate. By the 1950s, the institution had expanded beyond its campus, operating classes in Port Hope, Ontario, and assumed control of the William Houston Public School (presently part of York University's Glendon Campus). In 1957, it opened its first expansion to its main building.
In 1971–72, Roy Ascott radically challenged the pedagogy and curriculum structure of the college. In 1974, the institution established its Florence foreign exchange program, where a building in Florence was leased to house studio spaces for students in the program. The program was staffed by the institution's faculty members until the program's cancellation in 2017.
The main campus was significantly enlarged during the 1980s. From 1979 to 1997, the institution also held classes at the Stewart Building, a building located north of the main campus.