Introduction

The Visual Arts Center (VAC) is a stand-alone, three story building at the main crossroads of Historic Olde Towne, Portsmouth, a district rich in architectural heritage. A Colonial church established in 1762, an 1846 Neo Classical Art Museum and a contemporary art gallery are our immediate neighbors. Nearby, streets are graced with Antebellum, Victorian and Federal Period homes. To the east and north the Elizabeth River, shipyards and a major shipping lane to the Atlantic frame our view. The City of Portsmouth likes to think of the VAC as the renaissance of downtown Olde Towne. The VAC has received statewide recognition as a model for college and university art schools.

Instructional Programs

The Visual Arts Center (VAC) offers degree programs in Graphic Design and Studio Arts.

Graphic Design students focus studies in one of three specializations. Business Arts exposes students to a selection of courses in Business and Marketing in addition to their graphic design training. Students in the Graphic Design specialization focus on two dimensional work such as advertising and book design. The newest specialization in the Graphic Design program is Multimedia. These students work with cutting edge technologies in video, animation, web design and multimedia authoring.

The VAC’s Studio Arts program offers students an opportunity to concentrate in the areas of Fine Arts, Crafts and Photography. The Fine Arts specialization focuses on drawing and painting. Crafts students take classes in pottery and glassblowing.  Students opting for the Photography specialization learn both cutting edge and traditional technologies in our state-of-the-art digital labs and traditional darkroom.

General Education offerings include art history and a variety of studio classes that can be taken by non-majors. The General Art class (ART 113) offers non-majors an introduction to the studio arts, giving them an opportunity to explore visual design, drawing and painting. The consistently high record of VAC graduates transferring with scholarships to major upper level institutions and/or successfully entering the art industry mirrors faculty and staff commitment to excellence.

Arts Programming and Exhibitions

Professional exhibition opportunities in the college's art galleries are developed for VAC students and faculty, regional undergraduate and graduate students, and regional, state, national and international artists. Typically, six gallery exhibitions are presented annually. Numbers of smaller exhibitions of student work and selections from the Permanent Art Collection are installed around the college in offices and conference rooms, and in the public as appropriate.

Facility

The VAC, a three story structure, has 33,300 sq.' including a 300sq.' roof top glass studio.
The buildng houses 14 studios, (three Macintosh computer labs that run at up to 2 Gigahertz),
4 classrooms, the BB&T Books and Images Libraries, the Goodman, La Bouve' and Hallway Galleries with 2,221 sq.', catering facilities, receiving/ shipping areas, offices and security. The building and parking are secured, day and night. The VAC is available to faculty, staff and students from 7:00 A.M. until midnight seven days per week.

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