California College of the ArtsPrevious feature
1   CCA CAMPUS
2   THE NAVE
3   FIRST YEAR CORE STUDIOS
4   ARCHITECTURE STUDIOS
5   INTERIOR DESIGN STUDIOS
6   FASHION DESIGN STUDIOS
7   FURNITURE SHOPS AND STUDIOS
8   GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDIOS
9   ILLUSTRATION STUDIOS
10   INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDIOS
11   INTERACTION DESIGN STUDIOS
12   ANIMATION LABS
13   CERAMICS STUDIOS
14   FILM PRODUCTION SUITES
15   GAME ARTS PLAY STUDIOS
16   INDIVIDUALIZED STUDIES STUDIOS
17   JEWELRY & METAL ARTS STUDIOS
18   PAINTING & DRAWING STUDIOS
19   PHOTOGRAPHY FACILITIES
20   PRINTMEDIA STUDIOS
21   SCULPTURE SHOPS
22   TEXTILES STUDIOS
23   COMICS CLASSROOMS
24   HISTORY OF ART & VISUAL CULTURE SEMINAR ROOMS
25   WRITING & LITERATURE CLASSROOMS
26   FOUNDERS HALL
27   BLATTNER HALL
28   CAMPUS GALLERIES
29   NEIGHBORHOOD

First Year Core Studios

Your first year at CCA introduces you to hands-on making and conceptual thinking. The specialized studios are your home base for exploring ideas across drawing, sculpture, and time-based media. 

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360° view of First Year Core Studios | California College of the Arts

 

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3D Core Studio's Protest Prosthetics

Teachers standing in front of a crowd.
A student works in a space full of woodshop tools.
A dozen students sit at a table making miniature sculptures.
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The foundation of your CCA experience

Where you’ll create

What you’ll learn

🏠 The foundation of your CCA experience

Your first year is all about discovery, and you’ll be immersed in studio life, interdisciplinarity, and critique culture. Not only will you learn *how* to make things, but how to think through the *why* of making things. No matter your medium, connecting ideas to craft is key to sharing your story with yourself, your community, and the world.

🛠 Where you’ll create

Our first-year making spaces are built for exploring materials, tools, and dimensions together with your cohort. Course projects make full use of these facilities, whether you’re making cardboard wearables in the 3D Studio or large-scale perspective drawings in 2D Studios.

Brand-new shops and studios

The ground floor of 184 Hooper includes new first-year facilities like a bench room, woodshop, and state-of-the-art computer lab. You’ll learn how to use a drill for the first time, create plaster molds, form wire into sculptures, paint with ink, and so much more. The building has direct access to Founders Hall, meaning your dorm is as close as can be to your studio.

📕 What you’ll learn

First Year Core Curriculum focuses on experimentation, visual communication, skill-learning, critical analysis, and of course, craft. Faculty are here for you every step of the way, offering 1:1 guidance as you find your path as an artist. Failure is embraced in the program as an opportunity to learn and move forward alongside your peers.

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StudentBridge Inc. 2025