School of Art | |
Former names | School of Applied Art |
|---|---|
| Type | art school |
| Established | 1917 |
| Affiliation | RMIT University |
| Dean | Professor Kit Wise |
| Location | ,, |
| Website | School of Art |
TheRMIT School of Art is an Australian universityart school located inMelbourne,Victoria, which is responsible forundergraduate andpostgraduate education andresearch infine art andphotography atRMIT University. Established in 1917, it is the top art school in Australia and 11th in the world, according to the 2020QS World University Rankings.[1]
Art education has been offered at RMIT since its foundation in 1887 (as theWorking Men's College),[2] as part of a suite of "art, science and technological" classes envisioned by its founderFrancis Ormond.[3] The early art classes of the College were modelled on those ofBritish andEuropean art schools—particularly the Brighton College of Art (now theUniversity of Brighton) and the South Kensington Science and Art School (now theRoyal College of Art) in theUnited Kingdom.[4]
By 1899, around 400 students were taking classes inarchitectural andfreehand drawing,painting,sculpture andwood-carving at the College.[5] Its architectural classes were the first in Victoria,[6] and remained part of the School of Art until 1934 when they broke away to form the predecessor to theRMIT School of Architecture and Design.[7]
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Photography commenced at the College in 1891,[8] and classes inwet-plate photography,photoengraving,photolithography andcollotype andcarbon printing were all offered by 1902.[9] Instructor Ludovico Hart founded one of the earliest photographic clubs in Australia at the College in 1891, The Working Men's College Photographic Club, which continues today as The Melbourne Camera Club.[10] Between 1904 and 1905, instructor James Aebi also took what were likely the first colour photographs in Australia at the College.[9] Photography was dropped from the College curricula in 1914, but recommenced as acertificate course in the School of Art in 1936.[11] It became a department of the School in 1956, with adiploma course developed by Dr. Neil Lewis fromKodak which he modelled on that of theRochester Institute of Technology in theUnited States.[11]
Art became a separate school at RMIT in 1917, as the School of Applied Art (and the second following the Trades School in 1890), with a building for its own purposes completed that year.[12] The foundation stone for the new School building was laid by thePremier of Victoria, SirAlexander Peacock, on 25 January 1915,[12] and the School was officially opened with a 1oz 15karatgold andenamelledkey by theGovernor of Victoria, SirArthur Stanley, on 25 January 1917.[13] Since 2008, the original key is held byMelbourne Museum as part of its history of technology collection.[14]
The School of Art offersvocational certificate and diploma courses in visual arts and photography programs;bachelor's andmaster's degree courses in fine art and photography programs and aDoctorate of Philosophy in art.[15] In 2020 it was ranked 11th in the world for Art and Design subjects in theQS World University Rankings,[1] making it the top ranked art school in Australia.
The School of Art has a number ofgallery spaces, the largest of these being in buildings 2 and 94 on theRMIT Melbourne City campus,[16] and links to theRMIT campus union's First Site Gallery and the University's major galleryRMIT Gallery.
Research in the School of Art research focuses on contemporary art, photography and craft. CAST (Contemporary Art and Social Transformation) is the School's core research group, leading collaborative socially-engaged artistic projects.
Notable alumni of the School of Art include: paintersCharles Billich,Lindsay Edward,Vincent Fantauzzo,Harold Freedman,Kenneth Jack,Robert Jacks,Ligel Lambert,John Kelly,Sam Leach,Gareth Sansom andCharles Wheeler; drawers/illustratorsDavid de Vries,Virginia Grayson,William Ellis Green,Robert Ingpen andAnne Judell; photographersGrahame King,Charles Page andChristian Thompson; sculptors/metalsmithsKingsley Baird,Peter Corlett,Stuart Devlin,Raymond Boultwood Ewers,Leonard French,Clement Meadmore andLenton Parr; and formerNational Gallery of Australia directorRon Radford.
Its notable faculty include:Godwin Bradbeer,Betty Churcher,Mikala Dwyer, Lindsay Edward, Vincent Fantauzzo, Harold Freedman, Virginia Grayson,Murray Griffin,Pamela Irving,Inge King,Simon Perry,Udo Sellbach,Napier Waller andTeisutis Zikaras.
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