Our campus has a unique history. More than 100 years ago the Jewish Consumptive’s Relief Society founded a safe-haven for patients suffering from tuberculosis. They set up shop in a place then known as Spivak, Colorado. While there was no known cure for TB at the time, people believed Colorado’s ample sunshine and crisp mountain air would help ease the pain of those who were afflicted.

Over the years, the JCRS campus grew to become the largest free tuberculosis treatment facility in the world. Covering 148 acres and 34 buildings, the self-sufficient campus included a US Post Office, a Meteorological Station, as well a working dairy farm.

Over the intervening decades the once remote retreat was slowly surrounded by the city of Lakewood. By the mid-1950’s the institution changed its mission to cancer research and became the American Medical Center. The AMC Cancer Research Center, as it is known today, still operates from a corner of our campus.

We’re told that patients and visitors to both the JCRS and AMC frequently remarked that the unique collection of lawns, gardens and buildings looked more like a college campus than a medical facility. We agreed, and purchased the site in 2003.

Great care and consideration has been taken to preserve the prior history of our campus, even while modernizing each building to serve the needs of our art and design students. As technology progresses our renovations continue, and we look forward to offering even more facilities and opportunities to our students each year.

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design is proud to have served as one of the nation's premier art and design institutions since 1963. We have created a place filled with great joy, enlightenment and creativity. One where we plan on nurturing the talents and abilities of artists, designers and visionaries for generations to come.