Founded in 1948 and known by its current name since 1997, the ECAV offers various courses articulated within and around two distinct cycles: the first cycle leading to professional certification as an Artistic Designer , and a preparatory program created in 2005, leading to a second cycle composed of a Haute Ecole d¹Art (HEA) bachelor-level degree course as well as a Master-level degree course in Fine arts.

In keeping with its tradition, the ECAV offers courses adapted to each student. The students are supervised by full-time and part-time professors (mostly part-time professors for the tertiary level), by different speakers and international artists-in-residence, and by several University of Applied Sciences (HES) assistants.

The HEA cycle takes its identity from the school’s situation in the heart of the Alpine arc, in the outskirts of Sierre.  The diverse linguistic and cultural identities of Switzerland are represented here, both in the student body and among the teachers.  The ability to criticize objectively, with an open mind, is considered essential. Over the years, the theme of ex-centering has become central to the artistic research and thought process, as it was for Rilke.  Thus, totally naturally, the HEA program has opened to other ex-centered cultures of the artistic world, such as Africa, Asia and Latin America.  The constant confrontation of different cultures as well as the networking between art schools encourages the development of a national and international artistic identity, as well as the emergence of a multiple content capable of integrating differences without sacrificing demands of a high level.  To satisfy such ambitions, the school is equipped with a reception infrastructure of the highest quality.

In keeping with its tradition, the school offers a pedagogical structure capable of adapting itself to an artistic future and of transcending styles.  It tries to avoid defining the contents and roles of art in advance, and assumes its pedagogical and artistic choices on the basis of constant critical questioning.  Such an involvement implies, in return, the professors’ responsibility, that of the speakers and guest artists, and in consequence that of the students.  Equal opportunity, mobility, coeducation, diversity and solidarity all help to define the institution’s identity.

Over the past few years, the school has developed a sub-divided research structure, separate from the formative activities but capable of enriching them, according to the level of studies and training (see Annexe on Research at the HEA-ECAV).   Since 1998, the Centre for Research on Images and Their Contexts (CRIC) has thus welcomed artists from Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Zambia and South Africa, who have explored identity questions characteristic of their origins, and who then transpose them into the context of their current place of residence.

The HEA cycle also accentuates inter-institutional relationships and projects, through workshops and annual fellowships.  It collaborates with the  Lucerne HGK  and the Geneva HEAD, participates in the ERASMUS program, and maintains a network of multiple partners in Europe, the United States and Africa, notably with the Californian College of Art and the Wits University Johannesburg.  It contributes to activities for the Centre For Contemporary Image in Saint Gervais, provides a wide range of services to the HEVS and offers teaching activities and shared classes with local HEP and HEM facilities, as well as multiple possibilities for continuing education, in collaboration among others with the HEVS2.  It also organizes a summer academy each year, and participates in a number of postgraduate study networks, in particular with the HEP programme of the FHNW (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz) leading to the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) and the Masters in Art Mediation.   These activities contribute, in their turn, to the economic and artistic development of an entire region, unlimited by cantonal and national frontiers.

The school has 5000 m2 of usable space, including 1200 m2 of workshops and exposition areas especially for the use of the HEA cycle. Space at the Contemporary Art Forum of Sierre (FAC) is also available for expositions, and the local hospital, HEVS site and Chateau Mercier infrastructures are available for organizing seminars, conferences and meetings.  The school offers multiple accommodation facilities, and because of its situation is an ideal site for studies, research and creation.