ABOUT US

Here, at the Haute Couture Academy of Fashion, Fine Arts & Design, we know teaching well, and we do it best. And we should. We have been teaching and instructing the youth of York Region, Markham, Brampton, Mississauga, Woodbridge, Maple, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Toronto and GTA since 1998!

OUR SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY IS QUITE SIMPLE

We ensure that each student receives the individual and personal attention he/she requires in order to reach his/her full artistic and creative potential. With this valuable and extensive learning comes confidence, camaraderie, equality, and belief in one’s own artistic and creative abilities. All of our students have the valuable opportunity to share their ideas with like-minded individuals and to enjoy the feeling of truly being where they belong, all while working in an inspirational and relaxed studio atmosphere.

OUR MISSION

To constantly encourage our students to strive towards excellence in their work and, to not only be artistic, but equally importantly, to be creative. It is our personal goal to ensure that each and every student we teach leaves us with confidence in his/her artistic abilities as well as confidence in his/herself and his/her abilities as a valuable contributor to today’s design industry. We do this by offering our students small, semi-private classes and workshops where instructor:student ratios are small and student learning is optimal, and by ensuring that all of our instructors are experienced and trained, industry-proven professionals in their fields, as well as excellent inspirational mentors and role models.

We take pride in the knowledge that we are the ONLY private arts school in Vaughan that not only offers a wide variety of courses in the fashion and fine arts areas of education, but more specifically, we were the very first school in York Region to focus on university and college portfolio preparation in each and every detailed aspect of the fashion, fine arts, and related industry fields. More specifically, fashion design & illustration, sewing, pattern making, fashion communications and advertising, graphic arts, interior design and many related visual arts programmes for Ryerson, York and OCAD Universities in Toronto, as well as Parsons and F.I.T. in New York, Kwantlen Polytechnic University in BC and George Brown, Seneca and Sheridan Colleges in Toronto and GTA.

For those students who do not wish to go the route of a university or college, but do wish to learn design, we offer an even greater course selection than most colleges and universities. These courses will enable each student to attain all his/her design goals and become an independent designer, ready for the business world, with a professional portfolio to show. After all, not everyone is cut out for university or college. In all universities and colleges, it is mandatory to take many elective or “filler” courses that have NOTHING to do with your field of study. Here, at the Haute Couture Academy of Fashion, Fine Arts & Design, you will learn everything about your field of study and you will not be forced to take any elective courses that will ultimately waste your time and money. Consequently, you will be able to focus your time and energy on your field of study and learn MORE in a shorter time than in any university or college programme.

In addition to our impressive course selection, we offer our students a programme curriculum that is constantly changing and evolving in order to keep pace with the ever-changing university and college portfolio requirements, and to ensure that our students are continually being offered a wide spectrum of learning opportunities and possibilities to ensure maximum personal artistic and creative growth.

WHY CHOOSE A PRIVATE ART SCHOOL?

In our ever-changing world of public school financial cutbacks and over-large classroom sizes, there are very few credible programmes available to young, aspiring, talented individuals where they are able to receive the proper and essential education and guidance they require in the area of arts education.

1. FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE AND PRIVATE SCHOOL PORTFOLIOS. THE REASONS FOR CHOOSING A PRIVATE ART SCHOOL TO COMPLEMENT YOUR PERSONAL ARTS EDUCATION ARE MANY: 

• Unlike public school system programmes that are just simply too vague and too elementary, we focus on instructing detail to develop and enhance individual artistic technique. Where in the public school system, the teacher student ratios are just too big for individual success stories and goals, we guarantee that our teacher:student ratios are always low (ie. 1:9 for sewing programmes).
  
• In the public school system, the vast majority of teachers are simply NOT professionals in any of the design fields that they are required to teach and most have NO industry experience. So how can they teach you properly? ALL our instructors are INDUSTRY-PROVEN PROFESSIONALS  in the fields that they teach, and they do still work and teach in the industry so that they can continue to bring our students the newest and most up-to-date information and education available.
  
• In the public school system, the government curriculum standards are just too low for truly artistic and creative students to learn and flourish and to develop advanced art technique in order to cultivate a competitive edge. We pick up where the public schools leave off, teaching, encouraging, inspiring and pushing each student to develop his/her artistic abilities to a level of excellence far and beyond the high school standards.
  
• In the public school system artistically gifted individuals are simply NOT being challenged because they easily meet the government learning standards (which are created for the majority, not the gifted), so are therefore left alone to stagnate because instructors are much too busy trying to help those students who are having a hard time meeting curriculum criteria. With our small teacher/student ratio, this NEVER happens. Within each three hour class, our professional instructors easily find the time to encourage, mentor and teach each student on a one-on-one basis, guiding them towards their personal levels of excellence and to meet our high standard of artistic achievement.
  
• Public school financial cutbacks have taken such a severe toll on our education system,  with the arts and extra-curricular programmes suffering the most, the end result being the only way for a student to truly develop a competitive portfolio edge is through enrolment in an established and reputable private arts school.
  
• Don’t be fooled!  The universities are well aware of the low standards of expectation in our high schools today (especially in the fashion, graphic and interior design arts areas of education) and that the arts programmes vary immensely from high school to high school. When entering a university, you are expected to be competent at a university level, NOT at a beginner level, hence the portfolio requirements. The competition is becoming tougher and tougher with each passing year and high school programmes just don’t cut it any longer. In order to truly develop your competitive edge, a private arts school is the choice of champions!
  
• Remember the attrition (drop-out) rate!  What most people don’t know is that with many of the best universities for design (Ryerson University in Toronto, Parsons and F.I.T. in New York), they have an extremely high drop-out rate in the very first year of study. This rate can often reach an alarming 40% before the Christmas break for first year students alone. Some years
  an astonishing 60% has been seen as well. Receiving a PROPER arts education and preparation from a reputable private art school can eliminate the possibility of becoming part of this tragic statistic.
  
• Joanne Dice personally meets and works with each individual student to ensure that he/she receives a CUSTOM DESIGNED COURSE CURRICULUM that will work towards developing a most impressive and competitive personal portfolio. This process is repeated yearly to ensure that each student stays on track and is focused towards achieving his/her long-term goals.

2. YOU WISH TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER, HOWEVER YOU DO NOT WISH TO ATTEND A UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE.

• For those students who do not wish to go the route of a university or college, but do wish to learn design, we offer an even greater course selection than most colleges and universities. These courses will enable each student to attain all his/her design goals and become an independent designer, ready for the business world, with a professional portfolio to show.
  
• Not everyone is cut out for university or college. Most universities and colleges require extremely high marks and grade averages from your last two years of high school, along with 80% (minimum) marks in U level English and Math. Without these marks, otherwise talented, creative and artistic individuals stand NO chance of acceptance into these post-secondary programmes.
  
• In all universities and colleges, it is mandatory to take many elective or “filler” courses that have NOTHING to do with your field of study. Here, at the Haute Couture Academy of Fashion, Fine Arts & Design, you will learn everything about your field of study and you will not be forced to take any elective courses that will ultimately waste your time and money. Consequently, you will be able to focus ALL your time and energy on your field of study and learn MORE in a shorter time than in any university or college programme.
  
• Where in colleges and universities the teacher student ratios are just too big for individual success stories and goals, we guarantee that our teacher:student ratios are always low (ie. 1:9 for sewing programmes).
  
• Remember the attrition (drop-out) rate! What most people don’t know is that with many of the best universities for design (Ryerson University in Toronto, Parsons and F.I.T. in New York) have an extremely high drop-out rate in the very first year of study. This rate can often reach an alarming 40% before the Christmas break for first year students alone. Some years an astonishing 60% has been seen as well. Receiving a PROPER arts education and preparation from a reputable private art school can eliminate the possibility of becoming part of this tragic statistic. Because of our low instructor:student ratios, our attrition rate is astonishing low 5%.
  
• Joanne Dice personally meets and works with each individual student to ensure that he/she receives a CUSTOM DESIGNED COURSE CURRICULUM that will work towards developing a most impressive and competitive personal portfolio. This process is repeated yearly to ensure that each student stays on track and is focused towards achieving his/her long-term goals.