Artists in the 21st Century work across and between a range of mediums and processes. Our curriculum breaks down the boundaries between disciplines by encouraging students to combine knowledge in new ways.
KyCAD promotes a subject-led approach to teaching and learning in art and design. KyCAD courses foster creative problem solving and critical thinking while students learn the traditional studio and contemporary digital skills necessary for a successful art practice. The concept of “making and thinking,” or even “making as thinking,” leads the KyCAD curriculum.
Students work and create within evolving relevant thematic conversations. KyCAD organizes these themes and ideas into Centers of Inquiry—subject knowledge that is central to students’ art practice. Students self-select from the Centers of Inquiry to define the conceptual emphasis of their artistic practice.
Part of the mission of the KyCAD Centers of Inquiry is to become an active hub for research, developing new methodologies that employ the lenses of fine arts and design to think about social issues, solve problems, create dialogue, and forge enduring connections in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world. Driven by an appreciation for diverse modes of living, being and thinking, the whole of the KyCAD community is encouraged to participate in building an extensive and curated collection of resources through which researchers might explore the Centers of Inquiry, at KyCAD, within the Louisville community, and beyond.
This research hub includes an ever-expanding database of resources and research material matched to relevant Centers of Inquiry. This database is browsable and searchable anywhere in the world.
The KyCAD Library houses exhibits that showcase a wide variety of resources, tools, artwork, and examples of how the Centers are being brought to life through the KyCAD curriculum. The exhibits offer a dynamic and illustrative way to interact with the Centers; they are curated and change regularly to reflect ever-evolving conversations at KyCAD.
Visit KyCAD's Library Annex to see the Centers brought to life through these exhibits.
Would you like to provide the library staff with comments or information about the Centers Database? Please complete our feedback form and let us know your thoughts.