Stoke-on-Trent College of Art
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The Stoke-on-Trent Regional College of Art was one of the three constituent colleges that were merged to form North Staffordshire Polytechnic (later renamed as Staffordshire Polytechnic and now Staffordshire University). The College of Art had achieved Regional Art College status after the Second World War and was formed from three of the Potteries Art Schools, each having their own strengths and identities.
[edit] History
At the time of the formation of North Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1971, the Department of Fine Art was located in the Burslem School of Art, and the department continued the long and successful tradition of creative education which had been a feature of that establishment. It was a philosophy which, in the past had produced many creative personnel for the Ceramics Industry, such as Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper and Moira Forsyth. Gordon Forsyth was superintendent of Art Education in the twenties and thirties and taught at Burslem School of Art. Reginald Haggar, who was Minton's Art Director until 1939 was the Master-in-Charge of the Burslem School of Art from 1941 to 1945. Haggar himself was an accomplished artist, working in water colours as well as ceramics, and his designs reflected many elements of Art Deco.
First "opened in 1853, Burslem School of Art offered the opportunity for local talented people to study art at a high level."[1] At the Burslem School of Art, the "instructor was William Ruscoe (b.1904 d1990); born in Stoke-on-Trent he had wide experience in industry and teaching in Exeter and Stoke-on-Trent. Author of English Porcelain Figures 1744-1848 (1947), A Manual for the Potter (1948) and Sculpture for the Potter. With Gordon Forsyth (Principal of City of Stoke-on-Trent Art Schools, 1920-44) he was responsible for reviving interest in early Staffordshire image toys. He was the senior instructor at the Burslem School of Art."[2]
The Burslem School of Art, "with its nineteenth century tiled facade, is a jewel of a building in this part of downtown Burslem, which is worth visiting just for itself."[3]
In 1971 the Stoke-on-Trent Regional College of Art's Departments of Ceramics and Fashion & Textiles were housed in the Sutherland Institute, Longton; and Graphic Design & Printing was located on the present Staffordshire University College Road campus in Stoke, having relocated from the Herbert Minton Building in 1964. The Stoke College of Art had been in the Herbert Minton Building in London Road since the mid 1850s. Amongst the many famous designers who were educated in the Stoke School was John Henk, who modelled the Minton Figure of a Stork, now in the Hanley Museum. He later became Modelling Instructor at the Hanley School of Art. Arnold Machin the sculptor, who designed the portrait of the Queen which has appeared on postage stamps since 1967 and the image of the Queen's head found on decimal coinage, also studied in the Stoke School. Printing education was a feature of the Stoke School and many new developments in ceramic transfer printing (particularly in Offset Lithography) were first developed there by the Dearden's before their wider adoption by the ceramics industry.
In 1962 the Advanced Diploma in Art & Design (Ceramics) was offered by the Stoke-on-Trent Regional College of Art. Later, with the merger of the National Council for Diplomas in Art & Design and the Council for National Academic Awards, this was to become the first MA (Master of Arts) postgraduate course in North Staffordshire Polytechnic.
After the formation of the North Staffordshire Polytechnic, the Departments of Ceramic Design in Longton, and Fine Art in Burslem, were relocated onto the College Road campus. Fashion & Textiles were renamed Surface Pattern and also relocated onto the College Road campus. Colin Melbourne, the renowned sculptor and ceramic designer who was Head of Ceramic Design at Longton became Head of Fine Art.
In the early seventies research into letterform design for cathode ray tubes was carried out in collaboration with International Computers Limited in Kidsgrove by staff and students in the Department of Graphic Design, North Staffordshire Polytechnic. In the same period collaborative research into computer-assisted typesetting was carried out with The Monotype Corporation.
In 1973 the Departments of Graphic Design and Three-Dimensional Design (the latter being the renamed Department of Ceramics) combined their resources to offer a new and unique course in Multidisciplinary Design. This concept of Multidisciplinary Design echoed much of the philosophy of the Bauhaus of the 1920s and 1930s. Students were able to choose from a range of design subject areas and to combine them in solving design problems often located in the local community. The design disciplines available then were: typography; illustration, scientific & medical illustration; photography; audio-visual communication; textiles; industrial ceramics; ceramic sculpture; glass; silverware & jewelery; and product design.
In the early seventies the Department of the History of Art & Design and Complementary Studies was established. Again this was forward looking and was to establish the study of the history of Art and Design as an academic discipline in its own right.
By the end of the seventies both Design Departments (Graphic Design and Three-Dimensional Design) were actively involved in many aspects of information technology and computing applied to design. In this particular application of computers the Departments were pioneers and amongst the first in the country. In 1982 the DTI sponsored an exhibition (IT82) outlining the advantages of computing and Information Technology for industry. The Design Departments were successful in persuading the DTI to locate this travelling exhibition on the College Road campus – the only visit for the north Midlands. The pioneering involvement in the applications of computing to Design was to lead to the development of the first BTEC Course in Multimedia Design. In conjunction with the Department of Computing the first degree course in Interactive Systems Design in the United Kingdom was developed.
In the eighties the Design Departments became involved in research for the computer-aided design of ceramic shapes using solid modelling techniques, and surface pattern designs using advanced computer graphics. The experience gained in this area was to be used in the early planning of the Hothouse Design Centre located in Longton.
