This program is not being offered for the 2025/2026 academic cycle. Interested applicants, please visit Design Foundation.
Online full-time programs are offered as either Daytime, or a combination of Evenings and Saturdays. Check your program Dates and Times to see what the program commitment will be.
Humber’s Art Foundation certificate program offers you the opportunity to investigate different areas of artistic media and develop portfolios for entry into further study. Expand your horizons with comprehensive training in the basics of current visual arts exploration within a diverse studio environment. Discover your strengths and creative options, and your future in the world of art.
This program integrates visual art skills across several media and is designed to encourage you to explore a wide range of techniques and concepts. You will work closely with experienced faculty from a variety of creative industries developing innovative approaches and building your strengths through a variety of painting, drawing, photography, digital design, video, animation and fine art classes as you gain valuable insights into the art world. In just two semesters, you will gain a thorough understanding of many artistic disciplines and build well-developed visual literacy and creative skills. You will apply your acquired skills to create a portfolio that will support your personal work and/or prepare you to pursue related programs at Humber and beyond.
Work-integrated learning opportunities prepare you for your future career. You will apply what you’ve learned in class and in real-world environments through a wide range of academic, community and industry partnerships. These work-integrated learning opportunities may include field experiences, professional practicums and co-operative education.
A field experience offers students an opportunity to engage in intensive experiences related to their field of study or career goals to build their skills, knowledge and abilities. Field experiences may be paid or unpaid.
Programs requiring a professional practicum offer practice-based experience or work hours for a professional license or certification. Students work under the direct supervision of an experienced professional. Placements are unpaid.
Students in co-op programs gain experience through paid work terms in their field of study that become progressively more complex as their skill level increases.
Students in co-op programs gain experience through paid work terms in their field of study that become progressively more complex as their skill level increases. The co-op portion of this program is optional.
If you would like to learn more about work-integrated learning at Humber, visit WIL AT HUMBER
PGWP-Eligible Programs at Humber
International students interested in applying for a post-graduate work permit (PGWP) to potentially work in Canada after graduation must ensure their chosen program(s) align with the most current PGWP-Eligibility requirements outlined by Immigration, Refugees, & Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
To help you make an informed decision about your studies at Humber, you can review the provided list of PGWP-Eligible Programs including the (Classification of Instructional Programs) for each program as well as a PGWP-Eligible check to more easily identify programs that align with IRCC PGWP-Eligibility criteria*. While this list is meant to support your experience, be sure to verify the CIP code with the most current information on the IRCC website. A reminder that there is no field of study (or CIP code) requirement for Bachelor\'s Degree programs. All degree programs are PGWP-Eligible.
*PGWP-Eligibility
The Government of Canada is responsible for determining eligibility for student visa and post-graduate work permits. By posting this information, Humber Polytechnic intends to provide assistance to prospective applicants on a best efforts basis based on the most up-to-date information we have. Federal immigration regulations (including those governing student permits) are subject to change without prior notice to Humber Polytechnic or prospective applicants. Please refer to information posted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for the latest information regarding your application. Humber Polytechnic makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees with respect to the information provided on this page. We thank you for your understanding and invite you to contact us with any other questions that you might have regarding our programs.
As a Humber student, you have the chance to apply for a 16-week summer fellowship with the Centre for Creative Business Innovation and Humber Galleries. As a fellow, you'll work with industry professionals and an interdisciplinary team of your peers to create multidisciplinary experiences from music, film, media, 3D objects, and more — all while getting paid!
The newly constructed Humber Art Commons was designed to foster creative collaboration and experimentation. The flexible space allows Art Foundation students to conceptualize, create, and exhibit work all in the same place.
Launched as a live lab, the Art Commons building provides students with a creative space to explore and discover new techniques. Located at Lakeshore Campus on Lakeshore Blvd, the building acts as a hub for art students. The open concept allows for a modern studio space flooded by natural light. The space has been modelled on the general concept of transformability. Four large multi-purpose rooms on two floors can be turned into any kind of collaborative space depending on need.
Take a 360 Degree Tour!
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Marc Colangelo is a visual artist specializing in representational works of portraiture, figurative compositions and dream imagery. Areas of instruction and expertise are figure drawing and painting, artistic anatomy, and composition.
Cole Swanson (BA Studio Art, MA Art History) is an artist and educator based in Toronto, Canada. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Canada and throughout international venues in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. He is a two-time national fellowship winner through the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for his research on miniature painting, fresco, and natural pigment production in Jaipur, India. His current artistic practice includes a multidisciplinary study of the complex relationships shared between humans and other organisms. Working in painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and sound art, Swanson has created exhibitions in partnerships with scientists, ecologists, community groups, and social activists in order to confront critical questions in art, nature, and society today.
Swanson has performed many professional roles within the arts and has held positions in curatorial work, museum and gallery administration, and post-secondary education. As full-time professor and program co-ordinator for the Art Foundation and Visual & Digital Arts programs at Humber College, Swanson has developed and taught courses in painting, material methods, art history, collaborative and experimental art, and professional practice. Alongside Professor Anne Zbitnew, Swanson is a founding member of Art in Access, a research initiative that seeks to expand opportunities for community members faced with physical, social, and cultural barriers to art education. Swanson also held sessional teaching positions in the Faculty of Art, Ontario College of Art and Design University in painting, colour theory, and material processes.
Swanson has appeared as author and subject of numerous publications and catalogues, and has guest lectured at academic and arts institutions throughout Canada and abroad. He has been featured in print, video, and academic publications, and his recent work on Toronto's double-crested cormorant colony was profiled on The Nature of Things with David Suzuki (2020).
Swanson has received financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Musagetes Foundation, and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. His work appears in private and public collections throughout Canada.
Carolyne Topdjian is an interdisciplinary writer and educator whose work explores existential issues of aesthetics, consciousness, and identity. With a background in visual art theory and practice, she received her PhD in Social and Political Thought from York University and has since published numerous scholarly essays and stories. Her latest novel, The Hitman’s Daughter, is forthcoming from Agora Books in January 2022. You can find her at carolynetopdjian.com.
Propel your resume and life story to the next level by taking advantage of the global opportunities offered at Humber. Gain academic credit, develop highly valued employability skills, and create connections with people from all over the world through our many offerings: Summer Abroad, Semester Exchange, Humber Global Summer School, and many other opportunities!
To learn more, please visit Humber Global, or contact Jennifer Cleary at Jennifer.Cleary@humber.ca.
The Art Foundation certificate program offers you your first step into a creative career. The generalized training in many aspects of art will be a launching pad to more study or into the world of work. Some of the areas that you may choose to pursue include web design, multimedia design, animation, and advertising and graphic design.
Get help narrowing down your program options or book a one-on-one pre-enrolment advising appointment with one of our Recruitment Officers.
Book An Appointment
Speak to a Student Mobility Advisor learn more about getting Transfer Credit(s) for previous post-secondary experience, Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR), and Pathways options.
Book a Virtual Appointment
General Inquiries 416-675-3111 or enquiry@humber.ca. If you have already applied, be sure to check your application status on myhumber.ca.
Contact the International Centre for information about full-time programs (including the International Graduate School), how to apply and to follow up on your submitted application.
Every attempt is made to ensure that information contained on this website is current and accurate. Humber Polytechnic reserves the right to correct any error or omission, modify or cancel any course, program, fee, timetable or campus location at any time without prior notice or liability to users or any other Person.
Additional information will be made available to students from their program before the beginning of the Winter term. Courses with in-person requirements will likely also have online components. The delivery mode of some courses is still being determined. Humber may need to change plans for in-person learning, subject to government and public health directives and/or additional health and safety considerations.
You can find a complete list of programs with downloads including program and course details at Current Student Resources
Students in programs marked as online/in-person will have a combination of those two types of delivery. Additional information will be made available to students from their program in the first week of June. Courses with in-person requirements will likely also have online components. The delivery mode of some courses is still being determined. Humber may need to change plans for in-person learning, subject to government and public health directives and/or additional health and safety considerations.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
Analyze, simplify and deconstruct complex forms to solve artistic problems.
Employ basic measurement systems to produce accurate proportional and perspective renderings.
Create traditional and digital artwork which reflects adherence to accepted design principles.
Apply basic principles of visual perception, simplification, organization and the nine-point value scale to create realistic images.
Identify types and applications of drawing, painting and photographic tools and equipment used to produce original artworks.
Apply basic principles of colour observation, colour and pigment mixing, and digital colorization to accurately depict value, hue and saturation.
Create the illusion of three dimensions on a plane surface by applying techniques of texture, shading and linear perspective.
Discuss and present a range of critical issues of visual culture, examining how images gain meaning in cultural arenas.
Develop, refine and present drawings, digital images, animated images, video and photographs in professional portfolio format suitable for presentation to higher education admission panels or employers.
Research and pursue opportunities for on-going artistic development.
Define and use correct terminology to discuss and critique the impact of historical and contemporary visual, digital, animated, video and photographic images.
Create photographic and video art for specific purposes using basic technical capabilities of cameras and computer imaging software.
Plan and design animated sequences using basic classical animation.