Exeter College of Art and Design

Coordinates: 50°42′36″N 3°30′49″W / 50.709914°N 3.513501°W / 50.709914; -3.513501

The old School of Art building, now the Phoenix arts centre

Exeter College of Art and Design Earl Richards Road North site 1980's

Exeter College of Art and Design was an art college based in Exeter, Devon. Founded in 1854, it amalgamated with what would become Plymouth University in 1989.

The main building was located at Earl Richards Road North Exeter from the 1970s with some facilities based at Barts until the early 1980s. Graphics was based on Gandy Street in the old School of Art buildings until it relocated to the main site in 1984. The Printmaking department was initially located at The Mint.^[1] The Art College offered higher education courses including Foundation, BA (Hons) and Combination courses with the University of Exeter as well as MA/Pg diplomas. Disciplines were, Fine Art Ceramics, Graphics, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and 4D (Film, Video, Sound).

The Priory Press was introduced by Alan Richards and Bernard Beard in association with The Bartholomew Print Workshop in the 1960s and produces limited edition handmade printed books.^[2]

History

The School of Art was founded in Exeter in 1854 as part of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and promoted by Edward Bowring Stephens a local sculptor.^[3] In 1858 decorative designer Kent Kingdon offered a £5 prize for a decorative design.^[4]

In 1951 The Exeter School of Art was renamed as the Exeter Central College of Art.^[5]

Clifford Fishwick (1923–1997) was appointed Painting Master in 1947^[6] and was principal of the college from 1958 to 1984 a skilled painter having trained at Liverpool School of Art, he was a friend of Peter Lanyon and exhibited regularly with the Penwith Society of Arts.^[7] Fishwick is now regarded as an important, if underrated figure in post-war British painting and one of the better artists of the St Ives group.^[8]

In 1966 students print work was featured in an exhibition entitled "An Approach to Printmaking in Exeter" at The Whitechapel Gallery, London. In 1973 the College was renamed again as Exeter College of Art and Design and a new building opened at Earl Richards Road North on the outskirts of Exeter.

In 1976 painting tutor John Butler set up The Spacex (art gallery) which became a registered educational charity in 1990.^[9]

The college amalgamated with Polytechnic South West based in Plymouth in 1989 and in 2007 the facilities moved permanently to the Plymouth Campus. In 2011 planning permission was granted to demolish and redevelop the site to provide 39 dwellings with parking and landscaping.^[10]

Tutors

• Clifford Fishwick (Principal) 1958–84^[11]
• Michael Mayer, (Head of Painting)
• Brian Southwell (Head of Ceramics)
• Lawson Rudge ^[12] (Ceramics),
• Edward Allington (Fellow Ceramics) now Professor, Head of Graduate Sculpture at Slade School of Fine Art^[13]
• Mike Bartlett (Head of 4D),
• Chris Garret (4D, also Biff cartoons)^[14]
• Lesley Kerman,(Art History)
• Mike Garton (Slade Dip.RWA) (Painting)
• Marek Laczynski^[15] (Printmaking)
• Graham Clucas (Printmaking and Painting)
• Mike Leggett (film)
• Liz Nicol (Head of Photography)
• Steve Berry (Photography and MATTA)
• Steve Eastwood (MATTA)
• Steve Thorpe (Printmaking)
• Alan Richards (Painting, Head of Fine Art)^[16]
• Bernard Beard (Head of Print at The Mint)
• Tom Bates (Sculpture)
• Roger Dean^[17] (Head of Sculpture),
• Margaret Dean
• Arthur Goodwin^[18] (Painting, Head of Fine Art)
• John Butler (Painting)
• Jeremy Diggle (4D,MATTA) 1986–99, now Professor and Head of the School of Art, RMIT, Melbourne Australia
• Katy Macleod (Critical Studies)
• David O'Brien (Design History and Art History)
• Mike Gorman (Painting)
• Sam Smiles (Art History)
• Ray Smith (Painting)
• David Eddington (Painting Fellow) 1988–89^[19]
• Alexander McNeish (Head of Painting)
• Peter Stitt (Painting)

Alumni

• John Angel sculptor^[20]
• Christian Birmingham illustrator.^[21]
• Peter Bright artist and musician.^[22]
• Julian Dawson singer songwriter author.
• Elaine M. Goodwin author and mosaic artist.
• Diana Jane Howse visual arts specialist and wife of David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood.
• Iain McKell fashion, portrait and social documentary photographer.^[23]
• Anthony N. Moore painter.
• Chris Pig printmaker^[24]
• Kev F. Sutherland comedian and comic strip creator.^[25]
• Keith Towler social worker.^[26]
• Heather Tweed visual artist.^[27]
• Frederick John Widgery landscape artist and mayor of Exeter.^[28]

References

External links

• Historical photos of the college
• Spacex Gallery website
• Exhibition catalogue written by Lesley Kerman
• 2012 Artwork Installation by Sarah Bennett in the abandoned Art College building