Glasgow School of Art
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Established | 1845 |
|---|---|
| Type | Specialist Institution |
| Students | 1740 |
| Undergraduates | 1600 |
| Postgraduates | 140 |
| Location | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Director | Seona Reid |
| Affiliations | University of Glasgow, |
| Website | www.gsa.ac.uk |
Glasgow School of Art is one of four independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow. It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design, one of the first Government Schools of Design. In 1853 it changed its name to the Glasgow School of Art. Initially the School was located at 12 Ingram Street, but in 1869, it moved to the McLellan Galleries. In 1897 work started on a new building to house the School on Renfrew Street. The building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the first half of the building was completed in 1899 and the second in 1909.
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[edit] Campus
Today the Glasgow School of Art campus is spread across 10 buildings, most of which are situated on Renfrew Street or in the Garnethill area. One exception is the digital design studio which is situated within the House for an Art Lover, in Bellahouston Park on the southside of the city.
These buildings are:
The Mackintosh Building - or 'the Mac' as it is colloquially known by staff and students - is the heart of the campus and continues to be a functioning part of the school. It primarily houses the Fine Art Painting department, the Interior Design department, first year studios and administrative staff. It also houses the Mackintosh gallery which holds many different exhibitions throughout the year. The gallery is the only part of the Mackintosh building open to the general public, all other areas are of the school are only viewable by guided tour. An exception to this rule is the Degree show where all the studios within the Mackintosh building are opened to allow people to view the graduating years final artworks.
Directly opposite the Mackintosh Building are the Newbery Tower, Foulis Building and Assembly Building. The Newbury Tower houses the Textiles, Jewellery & Silversmithing departments and the Refectory cafeteria, actually a second branch of Where the Monkey Sleeps, a downtown cafe and restaurant run by three ex-graduates. The Foulis plays host to the Product Design and Visual Communications departments.
The Richmond Building is home to the Fine Art photography department which was founded by Thomas Joshua Cooper in 1982. The BA (Fine Art) Photography course was the first of its kind in Europe.
Connected to the Richmond Building is the John D. Kelly Building which houses the printmaking department, as well as the first year design programme.
The Mackintosh School of Architecture and the school's Library are situated in the The Bourdon Building.
The Barnes Building on West Graham Street is the base for the MFA and Sclupture and environmental art studios. David Shrigley is one contemporary artists to have graduated from that department.
[edit] Glasgow School of Art's Students Association
The Assembly Building houses the Glasgow School of Art Student Association's Administritive offices. Known by many of the staff and students as "The Vic" due to the remains of a Victorian cafe, called The Victoria cafe, saved from beneath a condemed building in the 1960's.
Students from other institutions often refer to the building as "The Art-School", which often refers to the gigs and club-nights that run by the GSASA.
The GSASA also has different socities including the Mural society, LGBT society and Cinema Society.
The SRC is a body of students elected by fellow students. They meet once a month with different sections of the school to discuss issues affecting the students.
[edit] Students
The Glasgow school of art has a diverse student population. Unlike the associated University of Glasgow, where over 80% of full time students are from the west coast of Scotland, there is a large international body of students mainly from America, Asia and Continental Europe.
[edit] Expansion
Currently, the school board are planning on developing the current Garnethill campus. The Mackintosh building will still be centrepiece of the campus, though there are plans to sell of some of the more peripheral buildings and to re-develop the Newbury site.
