History
Otis, long considered one of the major art institutions in California, began in 1918, when Los Angeles Times founder Harrison Gray Otis bequeathed his MacArthur Park property to start the first public, independent professional school of art in Southern California. The current main campus (since Spring 1997), located in Westchester, close to the Los Angeles International Airport, is anchored by the 1963 IBM building (famous for its computer "punchcard" style windows) and a contemporary fine arts facility.
A ceramics school was begun by Peter Voulkos at Otis in the 1950s and was part of art movements like the Craft-to-Art movement, also known as the American Clay Revolution, which influenced the Ferus Gallery scene of the 1960s. Many prominent artists associated with Southern California’s Light and Space movement were involved with the school, as well as leaders of the conceptual art world of the 1970s. Moreover, Otis nurtured significant Latino artists, and the mural group Los Four also originated at Otis in the 1970s.
The school was originally named Otis Art Institute. From 1978 until 1991, it was affiliated with New York's Parsons School of Design and known as Otis-Parsons (full name: Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design). This affiliation allowed students to spend a semester or more at the Parsons schools in New York and Paris. In 1991, it became independent and known as Otis College of Art and Design.
Today it is one of the most culturally diverse private schools of art and design in the country. Its students come from 39 states and 26 countries, and mirror the world as well as the emerging work place.
Read more about this topic: Otis College Of Art And Design
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