As the UK’s flourishing network of art colleges falls into decline, Alice Fisher speaks to two artists documenting the disappearance of the regional institutions that once fostered young artistic talent.
On a trip to Norfolk back in 2009, artist and academic Matthew Cornford decided to take a nostalgic look at his old art school. Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design may not have been an elite establishment – one of its best known alumni is Keith Chapman, creator of Bob the Builder – but the grand building with its terracotta roof, turrets and art deco flourishes meant a lot to Cornford, and to the other generations of students educated there.
Cornford discovered, though, that the place was deserted and derelict. “I found it really moving,” he says. “You think of somewhere you study as being permanent; this place I had a qualification from was now just a piece of real estate.”
He started investigating the history of UK arts education with an old friend from the Great Yarmouth college, John Beck, who is now professor of modern literature at the University of Westminster. The pair found the locations of art schools around the country, and began visiting the sites if they happened to be in the area – it was very much a side project...Keep reading on The Observer.
On a trip to Norfolk back in 2009, artist and academic Matthew Cornford decided to take a nostalgic look at his old art school. Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design may not have been an elite establishment – one of its best known alumni is Keith Chapman, creator of Bob the Builder – but the grand building with its terracotta roof, turrets and art deco flourishes meant a lot to Cornford, and to the other generations of students educated there.
Cornford discovered, though, that the place was deserted and derelict. “I found it really moving,” he says. “You think of somewhere you study as being permanent; this place I had a qualification from was now just a piece of real estate.”
He started investigating the history of UK arts education with an old friend from the Great Yarmouth college, John Beck, who is now professor of modern literature at the University of Westminster. The pair found the locations of art schools around the country, and began visiting the sites if they happened to be in the area – it was very much a side project...Keep reading on The Observer.