Lincoln College of Art

The institution changed shape and name numerous times over its history before being absorbed into the University of Lincoln.

It also popularised the art and crafts exhibitions in Lincolnshire that became important annual events in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The School was founded as a private venture, with the support of the Department of Science and Art, on Monday 2 February 1863, in a single room on the Corn Exchange, Lincoln.

[4][5] Its guiding light was John Somerville Gibney, a minor canon of Lincoln Cathedral, and its first headmaster was Edward R. Taylor, founder of Birmingham School of Art and inventor of Ruskin Pottery.

[10] A public exhibit was held in November of that year and proved so popular that the floor had to be re-enforced.

He had been inspecting the roof of the school with a joiner, George Allis, and in particular had been discussing with Allis alterations he wanted made to a skylight,[17] when he began tapping the glass with his right foot, lost his balance, and fell through, down into the model room below.

[20] Ironically, in a sermon he had delivered to his congregation a few days earlier on Sunday, 3 January, he had spoken of the need to be prepared for sudden death by having all of one's affairs in order.

[23] During its early years, the committee running the school drew up a list of rules, signed by the Rev.

By the late 1880s, the school was teaching Greek art and using classically based subject matter, as well as importing the then new idiom of Impressionism.

[25] Alfred G. Webster, the then principal of the school, replied in an open letter published in the Lincoln Gazette, expressing the belief that discoveries and ideas from abroad ought not to be disregarded simply as a result of their foreign origins.

The School moved to premises on Monks Road in 1886,[27] where it became one-half of a 'School of Science and Art', with its own principal and organising committee.

The Science School increased in size and added a technical wing to the Monks Road premises in 1891, a reflection of the rise of industry in Lincoln in general,[29] which was further demonstrated in an article from the Lincoln Gazette, dated 1897, which described a conversazione at the combined school in 1897, during which x-rays, glass-blowing, and a cinematograph were exhibited.

The range of subjects taught widened during this time to include (along with the more traditional subjects) costume, typography, lettering, metalwork and silver-smithing, dress design, and bookcraft,[34] in keeping with headmaster Austin Garland's statement that the students be 'taught to make things, and to bring artistic methods to bear upon the problems of everyday life'.

Lincolnshire ceramics artist Robert Blatherwick, who had studied at the school, returned to teach there (after making pots for Michael Cardew at Winchcombe and Bernard Leach in St Ives), from the early forties to the late sixties.

At this time, a number of influential figures emerged amongst the teaching staff, both locally and nationally.

[46] Another notable lecturer at the college was the Czech emigre artist Tony Bartl (1912–1998) who was appointed in 1948.

He was also a consultant and part-time and visiting lecturer for most of its time as part of De Montfort University.

[53] The Lens Media Unit, which had just purchased a multi-format DeVere 504 Colour Enlarger, was rendered inoperable[54] and was not re-opened until January, 1992.

Tutor and fine art artist Medina Hammad exhibited in Sudan, by invitation by the University of Khartoum.

[57] Alison Read, a member of staff in printmaking but with an interest in sculpture, was commissioned by Lord Jacob Rothschild to produce a sculpture of five running dogs,[58][59] while BA Graphic Design and Illustration student Neil Aldridge won in the Communications category: 'Postage Stamps' of the RSA Student Design Awards.

The exhibition featured prospectuses dating from as far back as 1947, nineteenth-century works by students, a video of a cricket match and picnic dating from July, 1979, and a selection of student art from the university's own art collection.