Founded in 1946 as the Burnley School for Professional Art, The Art Institute of Seattle has a proud history as a part of the Seattle community and as a contributor to the creative industries in the Northwest.

As Seattle grew, so did the Burnley School. The city saw everything from a World’s Fair to exploding new technologies that have changed the face of modern living. All the while, the Burnley School turned out generations of graduates ready to succeed in a rapidly changing world. The photograph at right, taken during the 1950s, shows the Burnley School for Professional Art at 905 East Pine Street in Seattle.

In 1982, the Burnley School joined The Art Institutes system of schools and became The Art Institute of Seattle. In the next few years, The Art Institute of Seattle received accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (1984), moved to its present location on Seattle’s waterfront (1985), and grew from about 100 students to a Fall 2008 enrollment of nearly 2,300.

The Art Institute of Seattle achieved a major milestone in 1999 when it was granted regional accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education. NWCCU can be reached at 8060 165th Avenue NE, Suite 100; Redmond, WA 98052.

In emphasizing quality programs based on the needs of business, The Art Institute of Seattle continues to be a leader of creative education.