Winchester School of Art

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Winchester School of Art is an art school that is now part of the University of Southampton in the city of Southampton on the south coast of England.

Winchester School of Art opened on 27th September 1870 and was one of the first art schools in the UK to gain Diploma (degree equivalent) status for its work in the 1960s. The reputation of this art school was forged from this period under the leadership of artists such as Heinz Henghes and William Crozier, and subsequently under Clyde Hopkins and Gillian Ayres. During the 1980s the work of the art school was characterised by its distinctive commitment to the European tradition and in 1991, uniquely for a UK art School, Winchester opened a postgraduate centre for Fine Art in Barcelona. The School's emphasis on a specialist, atelier-based training within a European context shifted when the art school joined the University of Southampton in 1996 as the largest part of the Faculty of Arts. It is now a separate School within the university's Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences. Now fully integrated into the academic work and life of the University, the School offers a multi-disciplinary, modularised approach to art and design education. The European elements of the School's work have now largely been abandoned and the MA centre in Barcelona was closed in 2003.

Since 1999 the School has included the globally-renowned Textile Conservation Centre (originally based at Hampton Court Palace, London) which is one of the world-leading conservation facilities in this field and also provide MA programmes and opportunities for MPhil/PhD study in conservation and museums & galleries. Its curriculum is expanding into heritage studies and other organic materials as well as textiles.

The courses taught at the school include BA Fine Art (with a generic pathway and pathways in new media, painting, printmaking and sculpture); BA Graphic Arts (with pathways in advertising design, digital animation, graphic design and photography & digital media) and BA Textiles, Fashion & Fibre (with pathways in textile art, textile design and fashion). There are MAs in Fine Art and in Design.

1 Notable alumni
2 Staff
3 Renowned Former Staff
4 External links

[edit] Notable alumni

Darren Almond, 2005 Turner Prize nominee
Stella Tennant, Fine Art graduate, 1993 - went on to be a supermodel.
Aaron Fletcher of Isle of Wight Indie band The Bees, was a Printmaking student at WSA from 97-2000.
Alasdhair Willis Magazine publisher famous for Wallpaper magazine - married to Stella McCartney. He graduated with a Fine Art degree in Painting in 1991. Always looked very dapper and painted mainly in grey.
Katie Pratt Youngest ever winner of the Jerwood painting prize in 2001. Graduated with a Fine Art degree in painting in 1992.
Brian Eno Studied Fine Art 1966-69. Electronic music pioneer, recording artist and producer.
James Castle (sculptor) Draughtsman and sculptor, Invited Artist at RWEA 2006