 EDMC owned the college from 1975 until 2017, when, facing significant financial problems and declining enrollment, the company sold the Art Institute of Colorado, along with 30 other Art Institute schools, to Dream Center Education, a Los Angeles-based Pentecostal organization.Dream Center permanently closed 18 Art Institute schools, including the Art Institute of Colorado, at the end of 2018.The school was established in 1952 and founded as a private college for arts and crafts.