I can't imagine another city in Asia
that would have served us as well as the
us-based Savannah College of Art and
Design took its first step into Asia by
setting up a campus in Hong Kong using
this historic courthouse building what's
really represents is a great iconic
facade within the districts it's a very
recognizable
its simple architecture but very
powerful I've never been in a place that
that has been so eager for things to
happen to make things happen and the
partnering that happens with the
government and with the local industry
and with the local communities has been
really amazing and has really ensured
the overall success of skat Hong Kong
this is one of the original courts that
we've preserved pretty much as it was
when it was built in the 60s the bones
of the architecture you can definitely
tell are 60s but being SCAD and being an
art design university we wanted to you
know make sure that there was an
artistic than to the private university
got its start in 1978 in the u.s. state
of Georgia the Hong Kong campus went
online in September 2010
allowing Asian students a way to earn a
u.s. degree closer to home originally I
wanted to go to us to pursue my study
further unfortunately since I've been
living in the US for so long
and we feel like it's too far away and
we feel like company is the best place
to be and because there's also many
opportunities here and people appreciate
art here so we think it's a great choice
to study art here I was looking for uni
in art school with my counselor and then
we found scat where I could study
painting and architecture interior
design so I came here
be creative I have to be somewhere else
just experience something with place I
mean and I that's what I have here which
I we don't have any friends what we
started to look at is is where were
there the international students coming
from coming to Savannah and of course
Asia was sort of that region of where
these students are coming from here in
Hong Kong we currently offer 21 degree
programs at bachelor of fine arts
masters of arts and Masters of Fine Arts
levels really focusing initially on
digital media communication arts
including graphic design advertising
illustration digital media in the sense
of animation motion media visual effects
this past fall actually we launched
seven new programs focusing on fashion
fashion marketing and management
interior design sequential art than
painting so we really are looking at you
know filling out that true art and
design focused offering to local Hong
Kong students in the region many of the
students here get involved with
internships with local companies in Hong
Kong why is that so important
scats mission which we take very
seriously is to prepare talented
students for creative careers it's not
just art for art's sake it's really
giving them the skills to be great
artists and designers but also the
practical and professional know-how to
turn that into a long-term career that's
going to serve them through their
lifetime and so the internship job
placement is a huge platform and really
something that we push our students to
get involved with right now while
they're in school so that it makes that
transition from classroom to studio that
much easier from the students standpoint
because it's not just about the degree
it's about how do they apply that degree
to a profession but also from the
industry standpoint because we hope to
build a pipeline of creative talent that
they can tap into and that they can
continue to grow their business grow
their economy and therefore hopefully
grow Hong Kong as that creative design
hub that's an overarching goal for the
city why was it important to SCAD to use
an historic building like this one we
are very lucky to be in the north Kelvin
magistracy building which we were
awarded through the development Bureau
and the revitalization scheme that they
put forward
and the building itself really lent
itself well to being converted into an
education facility these would be the
holding cells as the court calendar was
happening we could have taken all the
bars out and refreshed it but again this
is just part of the story of the
building we kept one of the cells
exactly really how it was or it would
have been as it operated as a Magister
see as you sort of come through here and
you see that graffiti scrawled on the
walls up here you see Chinese but
there's actually English and Arabic as
well and really are the students
actually do use this space it's an
amazing building we looked at several
cities in China and Singapore you know
here in Hong Kong a Hong Kong really
allows a lot of flexibility and how to
operate it truly is the gateway to Asia
the international makeup of the city the
dynamic that's happening right now the
emergence of design as a true focus from
the government and from the public here
really made sense to us and I think
really any business can benefit from the
amazing pace and intensity and
relationships and connections that that
everyone in Hong Kong is really looking
for