The Art Institute of Colorado

The Art Institute of Colorado was a for-profit art and culinary school in Denver, Colorado. It briefly operated as a non-profit institution before it closed in 2018. The school was one of a number of Art Institutes, a franchise of for-profit art colleges with many branches in North America, owned and operated by Education Management Corporation. EDMC owned the college from 1975 until 2017, when, facing significant financial problems and declining enrollment, the company sold the Art Institute of Colorado, along with 30 other Art Institute schools, to Dream Center Education, a Los Angeles-based Pentecostal organization.[1][2][3] Dream Center permanently closed 18 Art Institute schools, including the Art Institute of Colorado, at the end of 2018. [4][5]

The Art Institute of Colorado from Lincoln Street
The Art Institute of Colorado
Former names
Colorado Institute of Art (CIA)
Active1952–2018
PresidentJames Caldwell
Academic staff
140
Administrative staff
85
Location
Denver
,
Colorado
,
United States
AffiliationsDream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), LLC
Websitehttps://www.artinstitutes.edu/denver

History

The school was established in 1952 and founded as a private college for arts and crafts. In 1956 John Jellico, a former Assistant Director of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, joined the staff and introduced the Commercial Arts program. In 1960, he took over management of the school.

In 1975, Education Management Corporation (EDMC) of Pittsburgh bought out the school and became a branch of the Art Institute System of Schools. A year later Interior Design and a Photography program were added. In 1977 the school moved from 16 West 13th Avenue to 300 East 9th Avenue in Denver.

A short lived program was the Music and Video Business program. It was started in 1987 and the first graduating class was in 1989. Some of the Art campuses still offer a video production program. In 2013, the Web Design & Interactive Media and Graphic Design programs at both the Associates and Bachelors level have been merged into the Graphic & Web Design program.

A Culinary Arts program was started in 1993 and a satellite campus in the Denver Design District at 675 S. Broadway is used for the Culinary Arts program. The Broadway location has four labs for production of hot and cold foods, one baking and pastry lab, one multipurpose lab, and one computer lab, along with the student-run Assignments Restaurant. In 2000, the school moved its main campus to 1200 Lincoln St., keeping the old location as another satellite building, primarily devoted to the Industrial Design department. In 2012, they vacated the building on 9th Avenue, and all programs other than Culinary became hosted at the 1200 Lincoln location, which housed 26 classrooms; fifteen computer labs; a library; photography studios; digital video, animation, sound and editing studios; and the John Jellico Gallery in the Golden Triangle District in Downtown Denver. A long-term arrangement for student housing was made at 5785 E. 8th Ave. All three buildings were used until the school closed.[6]

Although the school's official name became The Art Institute of Colorado (AiC), it was sometimes referred to by its previous name Colorado Institute of Art (CIA).

On June 27, 2013, the Art Institute of Colorado was placed on notice by its regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The commission cited concerns related to student success, including retention and attrition, institutional review of data related to student success, faculty workload and development, enrollment management, and evidence-based planning. The institute's accreditation was renewed in 2015 following a focused visit and subsequent report.[7]

In 2017, Education Management Corporation sold the school to Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC. The school stopped enrolling students in 2017,[8] and closed in 2018 [9] after losing accreditation.[4]

Presidents
  • John T. Barclay, 1976-1980
  • Cheryl Murphy, 1980-1991
  • W.C. (Bill) Bottoms, 1991-1996
  • David C. Zorn, 1996-2014

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References
  1. Douglas-Gabriel, Danielle (March 3, 2017). "Art Institute campuses to be sold to foundation". Retrieved June 9, 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. "Inside Higher Ed's News". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  3. Moore, Daniel. "EDMC completes sale of schools to Dream Center". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  4. "Deal under scrutiny as Art Institutes face accreditation setbacks". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  5. Sweeny, Dan (November 28, 2018). "Whatever happened to the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale?". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  6. "Facilities". The Art Institute of Colorado. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  7. "Higher Learning Commission". Ncahlc.org. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  8. "EDMC completes sale of schools to Dream Center". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  9. "Closed School Information Page -". www.artinstitutes.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  10. "Cody Donovan MMA Bio". Sherdog.com. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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