"Excuse me, can you tell me where SCAD is?" For anyone frequenting downtown Savannah, this is a common question to be asked. Founded in 1978, Savannah College of Art and Design is a well-known private art college, and was named the "Hottest [School] for Studying Art." Tourists often visit the city hoping to pay a visit to the school, not knowing that getting directions to it isn't as easy as they think.

The problem is not that SCAD is hard to find. In all honesty, most people who visit Savannah probably see it without even noticing. But SCAD does not have a campus in the conventional sense, which is what most people are looking for when they ask about it. The school buys and restores buildings around the city and these are what make up the 'campus', which is fully integrated into Savannah. SCAD runs its own bus lines to help get students to the various buildings.

Even the dormitories are spread out. Turner House, Dyson House, Weston House, and Turner Annex are all located together, with the apartment style Boundary Village a short walk down the road. Oglethorpe House is right beside the civic center, while Pulaski, Gaston, and Forsyth Houses are located elsewhere still.

Anyone wanting to take a tour of the school should head to Poetter Hall--the Welcome Center at the corner of Charlton and Bull--where tours begin and end. This building also serves as the Admission Department and Graphic Design building. While at Poetter you can visit shopSCAD, which sells student works, and get a bite to eat at the Gryphon Tea Room across the street.

SCAD owns over fifty facilities around Savannah and offers several majors in various artistic disciplines, including corresponding and additional minors. Unlike larger institutions, classes at SCAD average twenty students to one professor. For further information, including admission information, visit www.scad.edu.