Chelsea College of Art and Design

Chelsea College of Art and Design, the erstwhile Chelsea School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, spatial design and textile design up to PhD level...

The Chelsea College of Art and Design was originally an integral school of the South-Western Polytechnic, which opened at Manresa Road, Chelsea, in 1895 to provide scientific and technical education to Londoners. Day and evening classes for men and women were held in domestic economy, mathematics, engineering, natural science, art and music. Art was taught from the beginning of the Polytechnic, and included design, weaving, embroidery and electrodeposition. The South-Western Polytechnic became the Chelsea Polytechnic in 1922 and taught a growing number of registered students of the University of London.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the School of Art began to widen, including courses in craft training and commercial design from 1931. H.S Williamson, the school's appointed headmaster from 1930 to 1958, introduced sculpture shortly after World War II. Notable artists from this period were employed as teachers such as Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland. Alumni from this period included Elizabeth Frink, Edward Burra, Patrick Caulfield, Ethel Walker, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Clatworthy, John Latham and John Berger.

The School of Science separated and became known as the Chelsea College of Science and Technology in 1957, and was later admitted as a constituent College of the University of London in 1966. The Chelsea College of Science and Technology was granted its Royal Charter in 1971 and merged with King's College London and Queen Elizabeth College in 1985.

Chelsea School of Art

The School of Art merged with the Hammersmith School of Art, founded by Francis Hawke, to form the Chelsea School of Art in 1908. The newly formed school was taken over by the London County Council and a new building erected at Lime Grove, which opened with an extended curriculum. A trade school for girls was erected on the same site in 1914. The school acquired premises at Great Titchfield Street, and was jointly accommodated with Quintin Hogg's Polytechnic in Regent Street. The campus at Manresa Road introduced painting and graphic design in 1963, with both disciplines being particularly successful. During this period, Chelsea had the highest enrollment of fine art students in any school of its kind in the country, producing many notable artists such as Ossip Zadkine, Mark Gertler and Paul Nash.