City & Guilds of London Art School (founded in 1879) occupies a distinctive position in art education. It is the only art school in London offering degree-validated courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, which has retained its independent status, and has not been absorbed by the University of the Arts or any other higher educational conglomerate.
In Fine Art, the School is known for the quality of its teaching in the traditions of painting, sculpture and printmaking within a thoroughly contemporary context. This specialist position provides an important alternative to the priorities of most other, larger art schools, and lends a high degree of focus to the students involved. Recent graduates such as Barnaby Hosking, Alastair Mackie, and Alex Gene Morrison have gone on to establish themselves as some of the leading young contemporary artists of their generation.
Through its courses in Conservation and Historic Carving, both of which are unique in their respective fields, the School plays an important part in securing the future of a national skills base for heritage preservation. In Conservation, the School offers the only specialist course for training professionals in the care of objects made of stone/stone related, wood/wood related, gilded and other decorative surfaces, and is a centre for training in the application of laser technology for surface cleaning. As part of their studies, conservation students are working at such institutions as Westminster Abbey, Rochester Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and Strawberry Hill House, to name just a few. Graduating students regularly secure positions within major museums and heritage institutions in Britain and abroad. The Historic Carving department trains professionals in architectural stone carving and ornamental wood carving. It is the only specialist course of its kind in Europe, and is known for its participation in high profile projects, such as the commission of up to 40 new grotesques at St. George’s Chapel Windsor.
The School’s independent status has been crucial to its remaining small and specialist. All courses are taught by practicing artists and career professionals, many of whom have international reputations such as Matthew Collings, Andrew Grassie, Reece Jones, Jasper Joffe, and Tibor Fischer. Visiting Lecturers have included: Norman Rosenthal, Basil Beattie, Paul Winstanley, Andrew Mummery, Alexis Harding, Gordon Cheung, Colin Smith, David Kefford, Anne Hardy, Tom Godfrey, Lucy Williams, Zavier Ellis, Max Attenborough, Chris Davies, Will Turner, Paul Becker, Francesca Lowe, Helen Sumpter, Nick Hackworth, Jonathan Wateridge, Neil Rumming, Dr Jonathan Ashley-Smith, Jennifer Dinsmore, Eric Miller, and Christian Ward.