KOOTENAY SCHOOL OF ART

K.5.A. Came into existence as a full day school in 1960 ina
small building on the main street of Nelson, Two familiar names
on staff in the early days were Zeljko Kujundzic and Santo
Mignosa. The first years saw a small enrolment and,I expect,
great creative involvement because of a small student, teacher
ratio. In 1964, students, teachers and equipment moved in and
became a part of the Vocational School. Number of pupils - 12,
Since that time the Art Department has grown steadily until today
there are 100 full time diploma students, 75 university students
and a staff of 7. Three programs are offered, First, there is a
10 month Commercial Art Program which is somewhat of a crash
course in Graphic Arts, Because this is a short course, many of
the students are able to obtain financial help through Canada
Manpower. Also offered are a Three Year Fine Arts course, and
beginning this year, ir co-operation with Notre Dame University,
a B,F.A, degree program plus art education courses.

For those interested in Pottery, everyons must first take a One
Year foundation course, This has proven especially frustrating to
the student who wants instant commitment. However, in the
second and third year, there are less compulsory subjects and
more time can be spent on clay development.

The department is run with as much freedom as possible, with each
student working out his own program. All manner of emperimenta-
tion is encouraged: painted pots, screened pots, enamelled pots,
Most emphasis is placed on wheal thrown stoneware. In spite of
the fact that a pupil might have a contemporary bent, repetitive
techniques such as throwing off the hump, are cultivated to pre-
pare him for a studio production environment,

This year there are 9) students taking Pottery as a part of ths
foundation course and 18 majors.

The school has ons 24 cu.ft. Alpine gas kiln, one 14 cu.ft., and
two 6 cu.ft. electric kilns. In addition, last fall, the third year
and post-graduate students built a 20 cu.ft. catenary arch woo
buming kiln. Each year this kiln will be broken down and 7.