Birmingham School of Art

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Birmingham School of Art

The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
, England

England

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The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham

Birmingham

England

Birmingham Polytechnic

The City of Birmingham Polytechnic was designated in 1971 and later on became the Birmingham City University in 1992 . It was the second polytechnic of the city of Birmingham in England, the first having existed in the mid-19th century for just ten years....
in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design

The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design is the largest United Kingdom university art & design teaching and research centre outside London....
, its Grade I listed

Listed building

A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance....
building on Margaret Street remains the home of the university's Department of Fine Art and is still commonly referred to by its original title.

History

The origins of the School of Art lie with the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists

The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is a learned society of artists and an art gallery based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England....
, who founded the Birmingham Government School of Design in 1843. In 1877, the Town Council was persuaded by the school's energetic headmaster Edward R. Taylor

Edward R. Taylor

Edward Richard Taylor RBSA was an England artist and educationalist, known for founding Ruskin Pottery and for his influence within the Arts and Crafts movement as the Principal of the Birmingham School of Art ....
to take the school over and expand it to form the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
's first municipal college of art. As a result, the current building was commissioned from architect J H Chamberlain.

An associated School of Architecture was formed in 1909 and received recognition by the Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects in the United Kingdom.Originally named the Institute of British Architects in London, it was formed in 1834 by several prominent architects, including Philip Hardwick, Thomas Allom, William Donthorne, Thomas Leverton Donaldson and John Buonarotti Papwor...
in 1923. By the 1960s, the School had outgrown the original Margaret Street building and expanded into the campus of the University of Aston in Gosta Green

Gosta Green

Gosta Green is an area in the city of Birmingham, England. It lies at the edge of the city centre, about three-quarters of a mile to the north-east of Birmingham New Street station via Corporation St or the High St....
.

In 1971, with the founding of Birmingham Polytechnic, the School of Art lost its independence and became the Polytechnic's Faculty of Art and Design. In 1988, this in turn absorbed the former Bournville College of Art to form the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design

Birmingham Institute of Art and Design

The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design is the largest United Kingdom university art & design teaching and research centre outside London....
, the largest centre for education in art, design and the media in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. Birmingham Polytechnic gained university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education....
status in 1992 as the University of Central England.

Building

The building cost £21,254, and was sponsored by donations from the Tangye brothers

Richard Tangye

Sir Richard Trevithick Tangye was a United Kingdom manufacturer of engines and other heavy equipment.He was born at Illogan, near Redruth, Cornwall, the son of a small farmer....
(£10,937) and Louisa Ryland

Louisa Ryland

Louisa Ann Ryland was a major benefactor to the town of Birmingham, England. Her donations included several large areas of land that were used to create public parks....
(£10,000). The site was given from the Newhall estate by William Barwick Cregoe Colmore.

It is a red-brick Victorian Gothic

Victorian Gothic

Also known as Victorian High Gothic, Victorian Gothic is a style of architecture popular in the middle and late 19th century. The term refers to a revival style that used medieval architectural forms, and took place during the reign of the British monarch Victoria I ....
structure, completed after its architect J. H. Chamberlain

John Henry Chamberlain

John Henry Chamberlain , generally known professionally as J H Chamberlain, was a nineteenth century England architect.Working predominantly in the Victorian Gothic style, he was one of the earliest and foremost practical exponents of the ideas of architectural theorist John Ruskin, who selected Chamberlain as one of the trustees of h...
's death by his partner William Martin

William Martin (architect)

William Martin was a Victorian era architect who worked in Birmingham, England, particularly in the practice Martin & Chamberlain.Born in Somerset in 1829 he joined a Birmingham architect called Thomson Plevins, and then became a partner of D....
and his son Frederick Martin, and widely considered as Chamberlain's masterpiece. Its Venetian

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
style and naturalistic decoration are heavily influenced by John Ruskin's

Ruskin

The name Ruskin usually refers to:*John Ruskin , an English author, poet and artist, most famous for his work as art critic and social critic, and for his writing on the architecture of Venice....
Stones of Venice. The foundation stone was laid on 31 May, 1884 and opened in September 1885.

An extension from the north end, running east along Cornwall Street was added by Martin & Chamberlain

Martin & Chamberlain

John Henry Chamberlain, William Martin , and Frederick Martin were architects in Victorian Birmingham, England. Their names are attributed singly or pairs to many Architectural terracotta buildings, particularly 41 of the forty-odd Birmingham board schools made necessary by the Elementary Education Act 1870....
in 1892–93.

A continuous plinth band of Doultons tilework containing lozenges lilies and sunflowers on blue backgrounds runs around the building. The original iron railings were made by Hart & Co..

In 1992, the cleaning of the exterior was completed after two years and the refurbishment and renovation of the interior began in 1993, ending in 1996.

Birmingham School of Art

History

Building

External links