Wimbledon College of Art

Wimbledon College of Art (formerly Wimbledon School of Art) is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London and is one of the leading art institutions in London. It is located in Wimbledon and Merton Park, South West London.

History

Wimbledon College of Art was founded in 1890 as an art class at the Boys' School Rutlish. In 1904, the school expanded, four rooms of the house at the Technical Institute located in Gladstone Road. The school principal, AJ Collister, also acted as joint head of Reigate and Kingston School of Art. In 1930, Gerald Cooper was appointed as director of Wimbledon when independence from Reigate and Kingston. Theatre design was introduced soon after, in 1932, by Morris Kestelman. The school moved to its present site in Merton Hall Road in 1940. The extended theatrical design class in 1948 and presented its own theater, next to the school in 1963. The school was approved to offer diplomas in Fine Art Painting and Sculpture in 1966 and 1970 with William Brooker as the newly appointed Director.

In 1974, the degrees were offered throughout the school, with the first postgraduate diploma offered in 1981. The school was incorporated as an independent college with their degrees accredited by the University of Surrey in 1995.

The school was the first to offer artists residence, studio and exhibition space in the UK in 2000, with further studies and a conference opening in 2003. Wimbledon School of Art joined the University of the Arts London in 2006 and was renamed Wimbledon College of Art's new gallery space and Foyer, along with two exhibition spaces, opened in the same year.

Schools

Wimbledon is divided into three academic schools:

• School of Foundation Studies
• School of Fine Arts
• School of Theatre

Each school offers a range of specialist art and design courses ranging from foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate, as well as providing research supervision for students undertaking a research program of study.

Affiliations

Wimbledon is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, with Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Communication and London College of Fashion.