Visual and Applied Arts School
Specialities
General
Information
- Graphic design / Design layout, graphics, corporate identity, illustration.
- Animation / Traditional and digital 2D
- Visual arts
- Image: drawing / painting / photography / video
- Object: volume / sculpture / design
- Space: installation / scenography / multi-media
Fine
Arts
Visual art provides the basis for all other disciplines taught at VAAS, while also standing alone as a course of study . The fine art curriculum is the longest running program at Phare Ponleu Selpak. It was the first discipline taught at PPSA back in 1994. Even before the birth of Phare, our founders came together in the refugee camps in 1986 to study drawing with Veronique Decrop. Learn more of our fascinating origin story here.
Today, children of all ages are welcome at VAAS to study visual art as a technical skill, or enjoy casual classes. From kindergarten students attending painting classes, to young adults taking the vocational training, visual arts form the core of the curriculum throughout VAAS.
Leisure and Kindergarten
- For children under 13-years-old
- Children discover their personality and their relationship to the world through art
- No grades are given
- No attendance is taken, to encourage children to return and to adapt to local customs
Academic
- Children 13 and older
- Courses focus on drawing, painting, and sculpture
- Attendance is kept
Preparatory Year
- Children 16 and over
- This is a one year course for students interested in enrolling in the vocational training program
- Classes are offered in the mornings and evenings
- Courses include: model, art expression, art history, color documentary, illustration, drawing, and perspective
Vocational Education & Technical Training
This three-year course gives students the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to find employment in the arts industry. Students can choose from one of three disciplines: visual arts, graphic design, and animation. The fine arts curriculum is as follows:
Year 1:
Multidisciplinary year, where students take courses in all three disciplines, alongside a core curriculum- Core curriculum includes: model, writing, volume, perspective, Khmer art, art history, color/painting/illustration and photo/video.
Year 2
- Students choose their specialization of visual art, graphic design, or animation.
- Common Core: illustration, communication, photoshop, character design, layout, art history, photography, video, color technique, model structure, English
- Visual Art Specialization: Art Expression
Year 3
- Students complete a two month intership related to their specialty between year 2 and 3
- First trimester: students follow specialized lessons on skills required for their chosen discipline. Research also begins at this time.
- Trimester 2 & 3: working with a staff mentor, students complete their own personal projects.
Students who finish a course in the visual art discipline have the skills required to become professional artists, live painters, gallery owners, and more. Past graduates have gone on to open galleries in Battambang, travel to France for art openings, and work as live painters for our social enterprise Phare, The Cambodian Circus in Siem Reap.
Animation
studies
The Phare animation program at VAAS brings together basic drawing skills with illustration and design to create beautiful 2D films. Students in the vocational training program have the opportunity to create their own animation film, giving them the portfolio and skills needed to enter the field as professionals.
Preparatory Year
- Students 16 and over
- A one year course for students interested in enrolling in the vocational training program
- Classes are offered in the mornings and evenings
- Courses include: model, art expression, art history, color documentary, illustration, drawing, and perspective
Vocational Education & Technical Training
This three-year course allows students wishing to become professional artists to gain the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to find employment in the arts industry. Students can choose from one of three disciplines: visual arts, graphic design, and animation. The animation curriculum is as follows:
Graphic
Design
With the opening of the design studio Sonleuk Thmey in 2009, Phare Ponleu Selpak incorporated education on graphic design into its art classes in Battambang. Today, in the Visual and Applied Arts School, Graphic Design is part of the curriculum of the preparatory course, and is a main discipline within the Vocational Education and Technical Training.
Preparatory Year
- Children 16 and over
- A one year course for students interested in enrolling in the vocational training program
- Classes are offered in the mornings and evenings
- Courses include: model, art expression, art history, color documentary, illustration, drawing, and perspective
Vocational Education & Technical Training
This three-year course allows students wishing to become professional artists to gain the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to find employment in the arts industry. Students can choose from one of three disciplines: visual arts, graphic design, and animation. The graphic design curriculum is as follows:
Year 1:
- Multidisciplinary year, where students take courses in all three disciplines, alongside a core curriculum
- Core curriculum includes: model, writing, volume, perspective, Khmer art, art history, color/painting/illustration and photo/video.
- Introduction to animation is taught in year one, encompassing the basics of character design and illustration.
Year 2
- Students choose their specialization of visual art, graphic design, or animation.
- Common Core: illustration, communication, photoshop, character design, layout, art history, photography, video, color technique, model structure, English
- Animation Specialization: animation, flash, storyboard, after effects
Year 3
- Students complete a two-month internship related to their specialty between year 2 and 3
- First trimester: students follow specialized lessons on skills required for their chosen discipline. Research also begins at this time.
- Trimester 2 & 3: working with a staff mentor, students complete their own personal projects.
Phare animation students graduate with a portfolio including at least one animation film of their own creation, as well as skills and knowledge to work as a professional in 2D animation studios around the world. Graduates have gone on to become teachers and to work with our professional animation and design studio: Phare Creative Studio.
Year 1:
- Multidisciplinary year, where students take courses in all three disciplines, alongside a core curriculum
- Core curriculum includes: model, writing, volume, perspective, Khmer art, art history, color/painting/illustration and photo/video.
- Introduction to Graphic Design is taught in year one, encompassing the basics of Adobe photoshop, indesign, and illustrator.
Year 2
- Students choose their specialization of visual art, graphic design, or animation.
- Common Core: illustration, communication, photoshop, character design, layout, art history, photography, video, color technique, model structure, English
- Graphic Design Specialization: Illustrator, Packaging and Labelling, Indesign, Typography
Year 3
- Students complete a two-month internship related to their specialty between year 2 and 3
- First trimester: students follow specialized lessons on skills required for their chosen discipline. Research also begins at this time.
- Trimester 2 & 3: working with a staff mentor, students complete their own personal projects.
The graphic design course at VAAS has quickly become one of the most popular programs on the Phare Ponleu Selpak Campus in Battambang. Graduates of this course have gone on to be successful freelance designers, in house designers, and teachers around Cambodia. Graduates can also find employment with Phare’s newest social enterprise: Phare Creative Studio.