Get Schooled: What’s Happening in SCAD This Year and Why You Need to Visit
The world-renowned arts and design university has a season packed with exhibitions, festivals, and more in its historic Lacoste campus in Provence, France
SCAD Lacoste / Photo: Courtesy
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is the global leader in art, design, and innovation in higher education, with a curriculum spanning over 100 top-ranked graduate and undergraduate degree programs. The university boasts an enrollment of over18,500 students from more than 110 countries with flagship in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Lacoste, France. This summer, the SCAD Lacoste location in Provence, France is hosting an array of enthralling experiences for students, alumni, and visitors alike.
A Venue for Visionaries
Situated in Provence’s idyllic Luberon Valley, the university has revitalized the former medieval village of Lacoste. Its unique pastoral setting and 9th-century structures make it a transformative location for those seeking creative inspiration. Beyond the classroom, SCAD encourages its students to enrich their education by exploring the history and culture of the region through a range of seasonal experiences.
Spring / Summer 2025 Experiences at SCAD
SCAD Lacoste Film Festival / Photo: Courtesy
SCAD Lacoste Film Festival, held June 26-28, 2025, is a showcase of exclusive screenings, tributes to French film artisans, and industry insights. Filmmakers, celebrities, and cinephiles alike flock here each year in the university’s picturesque outdoor theatre.
The exhibition Christian Dior: Jardins Rêvés created and organized exclusively by Christian Dior Couture in collaboration with the university. Jardins Rêvés traces the founding-couturier’s deep love for flowers and garden. For Monsieur Dior, flowers’ distinctive essence represented elegance, beauty, and tranquility and served as his greatest design inspiration.
Christian Dior: Jardins Rêvés / Photo: Courtesy
Spanning 1905 to 2025, Jardins Rêvés features 30 silhouettes and more than 60 accessories and perfumes designed by founder Christian Dior and his successors including Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri, which has infused creativity throughout the House’s legendary history. This is a must-attend for fashion lovers wanting to go behind the curtain of France’s most famed couturiers.
Unfold is a site-specific multi-sensory permanent installation by Dutch art collective DRIFT. Inspired by the rich flora of the local Provencal region and the belief in the uniqueness of every flower and every human, Unfold is an immersive audio-visual experience that transforms the human body’s rhythmic data into a blooming flower, a mesmerizing unique audio-visual experience.
Unfold exhibition by DRIFT / Photo: Courtesy
Studio Bee 100% Made is a curated selection of works produced by talented SCAD alumni. Through celebrating emerging designers and their innovative processes, these collections serve as a powerful testament to the future of fashion. Musée SCAD Lacoste is a museum detailing the fascinating history of the village through local artifacts and visual storytelling, as well as the transformation into the university’s European outpost.
An Artist Residency
SCAD Alumni Atelier Rue des Artistes / Photo: Courtesy
SCAD Alumni Atelier Rue des Artistes is home to the university’s Alumni Atelier residency program designed to support alumni whilst enlightening current students and visitors. Conceptualized by President and Founder, Paula Wallace, the SCAD Alumni Atelier offers visionary graduates the resources to thrive, creatively and professionally, within university grounds. Visitors are welcomed to traverse the Rue des Artistes, where they can learn about ambassadors’ creative processes and upcoming projects.
As stated by Wallace, “A symphony of springtide events awaits you at the most illustrious locale in global higher ed: Christian Dior’s opulent Jardins Rêvés exhibition at SCAD FASH Lacoste, a curated showcase of imaginative designs by SCAD fashion alumni, an immersive installation by DRIFT en route to our Promenade de Sculptures, and astounding displays of invention on our SCAD Alumni Atelier Rue des Artistes.”
Equipped for Life
Alongside these cultural experiences, SCAD Lacoste boasts a range of cutting-edge amenities. These include a library, gallery spaces, dining hall, residential spaces, and illuminating studios for painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and digital imaging. Students are encouraged to venture through the region field trips and experience the magic of their Provencal setting.
Beyond graduation, SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, their SCADamp professional presentation studio, and more. According to a 2024 study, 99% of recent SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 12 months of graduation, proving the university’s students are prepared at an elite level for professional success upon graduation.
Whether you’re pursuing an education in art or design, or seeking thrilling cultural experiences in the Provence region, nowhere in the world offers it quite like this. With its fairytale setting, abundant culture and immersive community, SCAD Lacoste is the destination you’ve been looking for.
