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The Darwin Building at Kensington Gore

The Royal College of Art (informally the RCA) is a public research university specialised in art and design located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). It was founded in 1837 and has had university status since 1967.

The RCA is based in the South Kensington and Battersea areas of Central London.

History[link]

The RCA was founded in 1837 as the Government School of Design. In 1853, it became the National Art Training School with the Female School of Art in separate buildings; and, in 1896, it received the name Royal College of Art. During the 19th century, it was often referred to as the South Kensington Schools. See Richard Burchett, an early Headmaster, for more details on this period. After 130 years in operation, the Royal College of Art was granted its Royal Charter in 1967, which gave it the status of an independent university with the power to grant its own degrees.

Its Royal Charter specifies that the objects of the College are "to advance learning, knowledge and professional competence particularly in the field of fine arts, in the principles and practice of art and design in their relation to industrial and commercial processes and social developments and other subjects relating thereto through teaching, research and collaboration with industry and commerce".

The RCA building in Kensington Gore is a Grade II listed building and dates from the 1960s. It was designed by staff from the RCA.^[2]

Research[link]

The most recent Research Assessment Exercise (December 2008) confirmed the Royal College of Art as a leading specialist art and design institution in the United Kingdom, with 40% of its research output judged to be of quality that is World-Leading in terms of originality, significance, and rigor. A further 25% was considered Internationally Excellent.

Rankings and reputation[link]

The RCA has an international reputation for its teaching in the fields of architecture, automotive design, photography, industrial design, communication design, interaction design, textiles, fashion, ceramics and silversmithing. An M.A. in design history is offered in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, while an M.A. in Innovation Design Engineering is offered jointly with Imperial College London.

According to the latest statistics (2002–07) on all graduate destinations from the RCA, an average of 93% gained work in directly related employment and at the right level. The current enrollment tally measures roughly 900 students, all taking fine art, applied art, design, communication design and humanities courses.

In April 2011, Modern Painters surveyed art world professionals to create a list of the top 10 UK art schools which ranked them: 1. Royal College of Art; 2. Royal Academy Schools; 3. City and Guilds of London Art School; 4. Slade School of Art; and 5. Goldsmiths College, University of London.^[3]

The Royal College of Art played a major role in the birth of the modern school of British sculpture in the 1920s and in the development of Pop Art in the 1960s.

Notable alumni[link]

19th century[link]

20th century[link]

21st century[link]

• Christopher Bailey, creative director at Burberry
• Christine Berrie, illustrator
• Gillian Carnegie
• Guy Hendrix Dyas, designer and feature film production designer, BAFTA winner 2010
• Max Hattler, visual artist, animator
• Idris Khan
• Liz Neal
• Xavier Pick, artist
• Sophy Rickett, visual artist, awarded the Arts Council of England Helen Chadwick Fellowship, and the British School at Rome, Italy
• Suzie Templeton, director of animated films, winner of Academy Award 2008

References[link]

External links[link]

• Royal College of Art website
• History and architecture of the RCA from the Royal Institute of British Architects

v t e Universities in the United Kingdom England East Anglia Anglia Ruskin Bedfordshire Cambridge Cranfield East Anglia Essex Hertfordshire London University of London Birkbeck CSSD Courtauld Goldsmiths Heythrop ICR IoE King's LBS LSE LSHTM Queen Mary Royal Academy of Music Royal Holloway RVC St George's SOAS UCL Other Brunel City East London Greenwich Kingston Imperial London Met London South Bank Middlesex RCA RCM Roehampton UAL Westminster West London Midlands Aston Birmingham Birmingham City Coventry De Montfort Derby Keele Leicester Lincoln Loughborough Northampton Nottingham Nottingham Trent Staffordshire Warwick Wolverhampton Worcester North Bolton Bradford Central Lancashire Chester Cumbria Durham Edge Hill Huddersfield Hull Lancaster Leeds Leeds Metropolitan Liverpool Liverpool Hope Liverpool John Moores Manchester Manchester Metropolitan Newcastle Northumbria Salford Sheffield Sheffield Hallam Sunderland Teesside York York St. John South Bath Bath Spa Bournemouth Brighton Bristol Buckingham Buckinghamshire New Canterbury Christ Church Chichester Creative Arts Exeter Gloucestershire Kent Oxford Oxford Brookes Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Southampton Southampton Solent Surrey Sussex UWE Winchester Northern Ireland Queen's Ulster Scotland Aberdeen Abertay Dundee Dundee Edinburgh Edinburgh Napier Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian Heriot-Watt Highlands and Islands Queen Margaret Robert Gordon RCS St Andrews Stirling Strathclyde UWS Wales Aberystwyth Bangor Cardiff Cardiff Metropolitan Glamorgan Glyndŵr Newport Swansea Swansea Metropolitan UW Trinity Saint David Overseas territories University of the West Indies Bermuda College Cayman Islands Law School International College of the Cayman Islands St. Matthews University University College of the Cayman Islands University of Science, Arts and Technology American University of the Caribbean Saint James School of Medicine Non−geographic Lambeth degrees Open University University of London International Programmes Related List by size List by date of foundation (Third oldest in England) List by endowment Colleges within universities Degree abbreviations National Union of Students Rankings Undergraduate degree classification UCAS Category Commons List

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v t e Art schools in the United Kingdom Art school List of art schools England London City and Guilds of London Art School Courtauld Institute of Art Goldsmiths, University of London Heatherley School of Fine Art Lambeth School of Art The Prince's Drawing School Putney School of Art and Design Ravensbourne Royal Academy Schools Royal College of Art UCL Slade School of Fine Art University of the Arts London Camberwell College of Arts Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Art and Design Wimbledon College of Art Other The Arts University College at Bournemouth Cleveland College of Art and Design Coventry School of Art and Design Hereford College of Arts Liverpool John Moores University School of Art and Design Norwich University College of the Arts The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art University College Falmouth Northern Ireland   Scotland Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Edinburgh College of Art Glasgow School of Art Gray's School of Art Leith School of Art Wales Cardiff School of Art & Design Category

Coordinates: 51°30′05″N 0°10′44″W / 51.50139°N 0.17889°W / 51.50139; -0.17889

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (July 2010)

1881 painting by Marie Bashkirtseff, In the Studio, depicts an art school life drawing session, Dnipropetrovsk State Art Museum, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or postgraduate programs in these areas. They are distinguished from larger institutions which also may offer majors or degrees in the visual arts, but only as one part of a broad-based range of programs (such as the liberal arts and sciences). France's École des Beaux-Arts is, perhaps, the first model for such organized instruction, breaking with a tradition of master and apprentice instruction when it was formed.

If accredited as a college, most art schools grant a bachelor of fine arts, bachelor of arts, or bachelor of science degree. Associate degrees and professional diploma programs are common as well.

Art schools[link]

Art and design schools in the United States[link]

In the U.S. art and design schools that offer bachelor of fine arts or Master of Fine Arts degrees break down into basic types with some overlap and variations. Artists are very well accredited.

The most highly rated schools belong to a consortium formed in 1991 and called the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). These schools differ from for-profit career schools in that they require a strong component of liberal arts courses in addition to art and design courses, providing a well-rounded college degree.

There also are partnerships between art schools and universities such as School of the Art Institute of Chicago with Roosevelt University,^[1] the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University, Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, the Rhode Island School of Design with Brown University, Maryland Institute College of Art and Johns Hopkins University, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in conjunction with Tufts University, Tyler School of Art at Temple University, or Herron School of Art at Indiana University.

There is one state-supported independent art school in the U.S., Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The first Art School in the U.S. is the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).

Cooper Union in New York City is among the most selective of art schools, admitting 4%, with every student on full scholarship. The Yale School of Art at Yale University offers only graduate instruction in its two-year MFA programs. The Yale Daily News reported on Thursday, February 1, 2007 that the School had 1215 applications for its class of 2009 and would offer admission to fifty-five students.

Next up the scale in size for an art school would be a large art or design department, school, or college at a university. If it is a college, such as the College of Design, [2] at Iowa State University typically, it would contain programs that teach studio art, graphic design, photography, architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, or interior architecture, as well as art, design, and architectural history areas. Sometimes these are simply the schools of art, architecture, and design such as those at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or the Yale School of Art. With over 3,000 students, VCU School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University is one of the largest art schools in the nation and is also has achieved the highest ranking ever for a public university.^[2][3][4] Variation exists among art schools that are larger institutions, however, the essential element is that programs at universities tend to include more liberal arts courses and slightly less studio work, when compared to dedicated, but independent, schools of art.

The final and most common type of art school, a state supported or private program, would be at a university or college. It typically is a BA program, but also might be a BFA, MA, or MFA. These programs tend to emphasize a more general degree in art and do not require a major in a specific field, but might offer concentrations. A concentration is not accepted by some accrediting or professional organizations as being adequate preparation in some fields that would lead to success as a professional. This is the case for graphic design, where typically, the minimal degree is a BFA major in graphic design.

Many of the degree-offering institutions do not offer intense training in classical realism and academic painting and drawing. The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts is considered a collegiate version of this educational model. This gap is filled by Atelier art schools (schools located inside an artist's studio) or in separate locations, such as the New York Academy of Art, the National Academy of Design, the New York Studio School, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), established 1805, the Art Students League of New York, established in 1875, and the Academy of Classical Design.

Canada[link]

In Canada, there are four standalone Art and Design Universities. They are, Emily Carr University of Art and Design ^[5] in Vancouver, NSCAD University ^[6] in Halifax, OCAD University ^[7] in Toronto, and Alberta College of Art and Design ^[8] in Calgary. Emily Carr university has the most active research program ^[9] among the four with over 15 million dollars in research funding over the last five years. OCAD University has also been successful in developing a research unit. All four schools teach in the major disciplines from painting through to new media and design. All four are public institutions with OCAD the largest followed by Emily Carr. Over the last five years, Emily Carr has garnered the most of the major awards for students and alums across the country including most recently the RBC Painting Competition which was won by Rebecca Brewer a recent graduate. Another alumna placed third. OCAD has been very successful in the development of its graduate area with Emily Carr a close second. NSCAD has a long tradition of graduate teaching and learning.

United Kingdom[link]

In the United Kingdom, a great number of such institutions exist, differing in size, number, and administration.

Perhaps those generally felt most applicable to the definition of 'art school', however, are the autonomous colleges or schools of art offering courses across both further and higher education boundaries, of which there are approximately eighteen, under the banner of United Kingdom Art & Design Institutions Association. Others, whose existence ties in indelibly with that of larger, non-discipline-specific universities (such as the Slade School of Art) exist. Most art schools of either orientation are equipped to offer opportunities spanning from post-16 to postgraduate level.

The range of colleges span from predominantly further education establishments to research-led specialist institutes. The University of the Arts London, for example, is a federally structured institution that comprises six previously independent schools situated in London. These include Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion, and Wimbledon College of Art; others include The Slade School of Fine Art, The Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths College, University of London, which each grant undergraduate and postgraduate awards under one collegiate arm. The Royal College of Art with its degree-awarding arm and singular focus on postgraduate awards being a most singular exception.

Outside of London Art Schools in the UK include Edinburgh College of Art, Hereford College of Arts, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Glasgow School of Art, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Coventry School of Art and Design, Norwich University College of the Arts, University College Falmouth, Plymouth College of Art and Design and Loughborough University School of Art and Design among others.

Some of the best new rising art schools in the UK include Grays School of Art and Dundee School of Art. The growing reputation is beginning to rival many others throughout the country.

Since the 1970s, degrees have replaced diplomas as the top-tier qualification in the field.

In the case of wholly freestanding institutions, degree validation agreements in liaison with a university have long been the custom for bachelor of arts (Hons) level upward. There has been a general trend for all-encompassing universities to offer programs in the visual arts, and formerly independent art schools have merged with polytechnics and universities to offer such degrees. A notable exception to this is the City and Guilds of London Art School, an independent art school solely focused on fine art and related disciplines such as carving and conservation. A few art schools have taken on university status themselves, namely the aforementioned Royal College of Art and the University of the Arts London.

Most specialist institutions in the United Kingdom can trace their histories back to the nineteenth century or beyond, originating usually from government initiatives.

In April 2011 Modern Painters (magazine) surveyed art world professionals to create a list of the top 10 UK art schools which ranked them: 1. Royal College of Art, 2. Royal Academy Schools, 3. City and Guilds of London Art School, 4. Slade School of Art, 5. Goldsmiths College, University of London, 6. Glasgow School of Fine Art, 7. Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, 8. Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, 9. Edinburgh College of Art and 10. Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London.^[10]

Online art schools[link]

In recent years a number of art schools have begun to offer some or all of their curricula online, which by nature, transcends national boundaries. Among these are The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online and Academy of Art University. As with on-ground schools, many of the majors involve computer-based work, such as compositions created in Photoshop, Illustrator, or 3D-Studio Max. Submission and review of these materials proceeds virtually identically for on-ground and online classes. When online courses require production of traditional drawings or other such materials, they usually are photographed or scanned for submission and review by instructors.

Art school culture[link]

In contrast to that contemporary stereotype, professional art and design education accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design or offered by the members of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design incorporates rigorous liberal arts and general education requirements so that students receive an authentic college or university degree.

See also[link]

References[link]

v t e University of the Arts London Colleges and subdivisions Camberwell College of Arts · Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design · Chelsea College of Art and Design · Drama Centre London · London College of Communication · London College of Fashion · Stanley Kubrick Archive · Wimbledon College of Art University Campus Camberwell · Charing Cross Road · Clerkenwell · Elephant and Castle · Hackney · High Holborn · Holborn · Merton Park · Millbank · Oxford Street · Wimbledon People Academics · Alumni · Chairman: Sir John Tusa · Rector: Nigel Carrington Other History Affiliates London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange · Universities UK Category ·  Commons

v t e Art schools in the United Kingdom Art school List of art schools England London City and Guilds of London Art School Courtauld Institute of Art Goldsmiths, University of London Heatherley School of Fine Art Lambeth School of Art The Prince's Drawing School Putney School of Art and Design Ravensbourne Royal Academy Schools Royal College of Art UCL Slade School of Fine Art University of the Arts London Camberwell College of Arts Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Art and Design Wimbledon College of Art Other The Arts University College at Bournemouth Cleveland College of Art and Design Coventry School of Art and Design Hereford College of Arts Liverpool John Moores University School of Art and Design Norwich University College of the Arts The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art University College Falmouth Northern Ireland   Scotland Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Edinburgh College of Art Glasgow School of Art Gray's School of Art Leith School of Art Wales Cardiff School of Art & Design Category

Royal College of Music
Established	1882
Type	Public
Endowment	£22.3 million[1]
President	The Prince of Wales
Students	610[2]
Location	South Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom
Website	http://www.RCM.ac.uk/

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.

The college's building is next to Imperial College, directly opposite the Royal Albert Hall, near the Royal College of Art and five minutes' walk from the Science, Natural History and Victoria and Albert Museums.

History[link]

Background[link]

The National Training School for Music building, later home to the Royal College of Music (1883–94) and the Royal College of Organists (1903–91)

The college was founded in 1883 to replace the short lived and unsuccessful National Training School for Music (NTSM). The school was the result of an earlier proposal by the Prince Consort to provide free musical training to winners of scholarships under a nationwide scheme. After many years' delay it was established in 1876, with Arthur Sullivan as its principal. Conservatoires to train young students for a musical career had been set up in major European cities, but in London the long-established Royal Academy of Music had not supplied suitable training for professional musicians: in 1870 it was estimated that fewer than ten per cent of instrumentalists in London orchestras had studied at the academy.^[3] The NTSM's aim, summarised in its founding charter, was:

To establish for the United Kingdom such a School of Music as already exists in many of the principal Continental countries, – a School which shall take rank with the Conservatories of Milan, Paris, Vienna, Leipsic, Brussels, and Berlin, – a School which shall do for the musical youth of Great Britain what those Schools are doing for the talented youth of Italy, Austria, France, Germany, and Belgium.^[3]

The school was housed in a new building in Kensington Gore, opposite the west side of the Royal Albert Hall. The building was not large, having only 18 practice rooms and no concert hall. In a 2005 study of the NTSM and its replacement by the RCM, David Wright observes that the building is "more suggestive of a young ladies' finishing school than a place for the serious training of professional musicians."^[3]

Under Sullivan, a reluctant and ineffectual principal, the NTSM failed to provide a satisfactory alternative to the Royal Academy, and by 1880 a committee of examiners comprising Charles Hallé, Sir Julius Benedict, Sir Michael Costa, Henry Leslie and Otto Goldschmidt reported that the school lacked "executive cohesion".^[3] The following year Sullivan resigned, and was replaced by John Stainer. In his 2005 study of the NTSM, Wright comments:

Like the RAM at that time, the NTSM simply failed to relate its teaching to professional need, and so did not discriminate between the education required to turn out professional instrumentalists/singers and amateur/ social musicians; nor between elementary and advanced teachers. And because its purpose was unclear, so was its provision.^[3]

Even before the 1880 report it had become clear that the NTSM would not fulfil the role of national music conservatoire. As early as 13 July 1878 a meeting was held at Marlborough House, London under the presidency of the Prince of Wales, "for the purpose of taking into consideration the advancement of the art of music, and establishing a college of music on a permanent and more extended basis than that of any existing institution."^[4] The original plan was to merge the Royal Academy of Music and the National Training School of Music into a single, enhanced organisation. The NTSM agreed, but after prolonged negotiations the Royal Academy refused to enter into the proposed scheme.^[4]

In 1881, with George Grove as a leading instigator, and with the support of the Prince of Wales, a draft charter was drawn up for a successor body to the NTSM. The Royal College of Music occupied the premises previously home to the NTSM, and opened there on 7 May 1883. Grove was appointed its first director.^[5] There were 50 scholars elected by competition and 42 fee-paying students.^[6]

Early years[link]

Grove, a close friend of Sullivan, loyally maintained that the new college was a natural evolution from the NTSM.^[3] In reality his aims were radically different from Sullivan's. In his determination that the new institution should succeed as a training ground for orchestral players, Grove had two principal allies: the violinist Henry Holmes and the composer and conductor Charles Villiers Stanford.^[3] They believed that a capable college orchestra would not only benefit instrumental students, but would give students of composition the essential chance to experience the sound of their music.^[3] The college's first intake of scholarship students included 28 who studied an orchestral instrument. The potential strength of the college orchestra, including fee-paying instrumental students, was 33 violins, five violas, six cellos, one double bass, one flute, one oboe and two horns.^[3] Grove appointed 12 professors of orchestral instruments, in addition to distinguished teachers in other musical disciplines including Jenny Lind (singing), Hubert Parry (composition), Ernst Pauer (piano), Arabella Goddard (piano) and Walter Parratt (organ).^[5]

Front façade of the Royal College of Music

The old premises proved restrictive, and a new building was commissioned in the early 1890s on a new site in Prince Consort Road, South Kensington. The building was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield in Flemish Mannerist style in red brick dressed with buff-coloured Welden stone.^[7] Construction began in 1892 and the building opened in May 1894.^[8] The building was largely paid for by two large donations from Samson Fox, a Yorkshire industrialist, whose statue, along with that of the Prince of Wales, stands in the entrance hall.^[9]

Grove retired at the end of 1894, and was succeeded as director by Hubert Parry.^[10]

Later history[link]

Parry died in 1918 and was succeeded as director by Sir Hugh Allen (1919–37), Sir George Dyson (1938–52), Sir Ernest Bullock (1953–59), Sir Keith Falkner (1960–74), Sir David Willcocks (1974–84), Michael Gough Mathews (1985–93), Dame Janet Ritterman (1993–2005) and Colin Lawson (2005–).^[11]

In addition to the college's permanent staff, faculty members at 2012 included well-known musicians such as Dmitri Alekseyev, Barry Douglas, Håkan Hardenberger, John Lill, Colin Matthews, Sir Roger Norrington, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Roger Vignoles, and principals of the major London orchestras including the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.^[12]

Since its founding in 1882 the college has been linked with the British royal family. Its patron is currently Queen Elizabeth II. For 40 years Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was president; in 1993 the Prince of Wales became president.^[13]

A hall of residence serving 170 students was opened in 1994 in Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush.^[14]

The college is a registered charity under English law.^[15]

Curriculum[link]

The Royal College of Music from Prince Consort Road, London

The college teaches all aspects of Western classical music from undergraduate to doctoral level. There is a junior department, where 300 children aged 8 to 18 are educated on Saturdays.^[16]

Performance venues[link]

The RCM's main concert venue is the Amaryllis Fleming concert hall a 468-seat barrel-vaulted concert hall designed by Blomfield, built in 1901 and extensively restored in 2008–09. The Britten theatre, which seats 400, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1986 and is used for opera, ballet, music and theatre. There is also a 150-seat recital hall dating from 1965, as well as several smaller recital rooms, including three organ-equipped Parry Rooms.

Collections[link]

The College's museum of instruments, forming part of the centre for performance history, houses a collection of more than 800 instruments and accessories from circa 1480 to the present. Included in the collection is the world's oldest surviving keyboard instrument.

Alfred Schnittke by Reginald Gray

Owing partly to the vision of its founders, particularly Grove, the RCM holds significant research collections of material dating from the fifteenth century onwards. These include autographs such as Haydn's String Quartet Op. 64/1, Mozart's Piano Concerto K491 and Elgar's Cello Concerto. More extensive collections feature the music of Herbert Howells, Frank Bridge and Malcolm Arnold and film scores by Stanley Myers. Among more than 300 original portraits are John Cawse's 1826 painting of Weber (the last of the composer), Haydn by Thomas Hardy (1791) and Bartolommeo Nazari's painting of Farinelli at the height of his fame. A recent addition to the collection is a portrait of the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke by Reginald Gray.

10,000 prints and photographs constitute the most substantial archive of images of musicians in the UK. The RCM's 600,000 concert programmes document concert life from 1730 to the present day.

People[link]

Since opening in 1882, the college has had a distinguished list of teachers and alumni, including most of the composers who brought about the "English Musical Renaissance" of the 19th and 20th centuries. Students in the time of Stanford and Parry included Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and John Ireland.^[17] Later alumni include Benjamin Britten, Colin Davis, Gwyneth Jones, Neville Marriner, Trevor Pinnock, Anna Russell, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the guitarist John Williams.

Notes[link]