Exeter College of Art and Design was an art college based in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon. Founded in 1854, it amalgamated with what would become

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is th ...

in 1989. The main building was located at Earl Richards Road North Exeter from the 1970s with some facilities based at Barts until the early 1980s. Graphics was based on Gandy Street in the old School of Art buildings until it relocated to the main site in 1984. The Printmaking department was initially located at The Mint. The Art College offered higher education courses including Foundation, BA (Hons) and Combination courses with the University of Exeter as well as MA/Pg diplomas. Disciplines were, Fine Art Ceramics, Graphics, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and 4D (Film, Video, Sound). The Priory Press was introduced by Alan Richards and Bernard Beard in association with The Bartholomew Print Workshop in the 1960s and produces limited edition handmade printed books.

History

The School of Art was founded in Exeter in 1854 as part of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and promoted by

Edward Bowring Stephens Edward Bowring Stephens (10 December 1815, in Exeter – 10 November 1882, in London), (works signed E B Stephens) was a British sculptor from Devon. He was honorary secretary of the Institute of Sculptors circa 1861.Mapping the Practice and ...

a local sculptor. In 1858 decorative designer Kent Kingdon offered a £5 prize for a decorative design. In 1951 The Exeter School of Art was renamed as the Exeter Central College of Art. Clifford Fishwick (1923–1997) was appointed Painting Master in 1947 and was principal of the college from 1958 to 1984 a skilled painter having trained at Liverpool School of Art, he was a friend of Peter Lanyon and exhibited regularly with the

Penwith Society of Arts The Penwith Society of Arts is an art group formed in St Ives, Cornwall, England, UK, in early 1949 by abstract artists who broke away from the more conservative St Ives School. It was originally led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, and ...

. Fishwick is now regarded as an important, if underrated figure in post-war British painting and one of the better artists of the St Ives group. In 1966 students print work was featured in an exhibition entitled "An Approach to Printmaking in Exeter" at The Whitechapel Gallery, London. In 1973 the College was renamed again as Exeter College of Art and Design and a new building opened at Earl Richards Road North on the outskirts of Exeter. In 1976 painting tutor John Butler set up The

Spacex (art gallery) Spacex was a contemporary art organisation, located in Exeter, between 1974 and 2017. It was founded in 1974 by John Butler as an artist co-operative. Its programme spanned installations, performance, photography, sculpture, painting, film and ...

which became a registered educational charity in 1990. The college amalgamated with Polytechnic South West based in Plymouth in 1989 and in 2007 the facilities moved permanently to the Plymouth Campus. In 2011 planning permission was granted to demolish and redevelop the site to provide 39 dwellings with parking and landscaping.

Tutors

* Clifford Fishwick (Principal) 1958–84 *Michael Mayer, (Head of Painting) *Brian Southwell (Head of Ceramics) *Lawson Rudge (Ceramics) * Edward Allington (Fellow Ceramics) now Professor, Head of Graduate Sculpture at

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised a ...

*Mike Bartlett (Head of 4D) * Chris Garret (4D, also Biff cartoons) *Lesley Kerman (Art History) *Mike Garton (Slade Dip.RWA) (Painting) * Marek Laczynski (Printmaking) *Graham Clucas (Printmaking and Painting) *Mike Leggett (film) *Liz Nicol (Head of Photography) *Steve Berry (Photography and MATTA) *Steve Eastwood (MATTA) *Steve Thorpe (Printmaking) *Alan Richards (Painting, Head of Fine Art) *Bernard Beard (Head of Print at The Mint) *Tom Bates (Sculpture) *Roger Dean (Head of Sculpture), *Margaret Dean *George V Stephenson (Senior Lecture, Sculpture and Fine Art) 1967-1988 *Arthur Goodwin (Painting, Head of Fine Art) *John Butler (Painting) *Jeremy Diggle (4D,MATTA) 1986–99, now Professor and Head of the School of Art, RMIT, Melbourne Australia *Katy Macleod (Critical Studies) *David O'Brien (Design History and Art History) *Mike Gorman (Painting) *Sam Smiles (Art History) * Ray Smith (Painting) *David Eddington (Painting Fellow) 1988–89 *

Alexander McNeish Alexander McNeish (1932-2000) was a Scottish artist. Alexander McNeish was born at Bo'ness, near Linlithgow on the Firth of Forth, Scotland, the son of a coal miner. He attended Edinburgh College of Art from 1952 to 1957 studying under John Maxwe ...

(Head of Painting) *Peter Stitt (Painting) *Mike Phillips (4D, Media Arts) 1987-1992 *Michael Bull (sculpture)

Alumni

* John Angel (1881–1960) sculptor *

Christian Birmingham Christian Birmingham is a British illustrator and artist who has worked with children's writers including the Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo, on books including Whitbread Children's Book of the Year ''The Wreck of the Zanzibar'' and Smart ...

illustrator * Peter Bright artist and musician *

Penny Dale Penny Dale (born 1954 in London) is an English illustrator and writer of children's books. Background Dale studied Fine Arts and graduated from Exeter College of Art and Design. She moved to South East Wales in 1982, and currently resides i ...

illustrator and writer of children's books. *

Julian Dawson Julian Dawson (born 4 July 1954 in London) is a British singer–songwriter, guitarist and author. His style has been compared to Wilco and Ron Sexsmith. He is fluent in German and French. Outside his solo work, acts he has recorded with (as si ...

(b. 1954) singer songwriter author * Elaine M. Goodwin author and mosaic artist * Diana Jane Howse (b. 1956) visual arts specialist and wife of

David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood David Henry George Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood (born 21 October 1950), styled as Viscount Lascelles until 2011, is a British hereditary peer and film and television producer. He is a second cousin of Charles III and a great-grandson of Geo ...

* Iain McKell fashion, portrait and social documentary photographer * Chris Pig (b. 1965) printmaker *

Kev F. Sutherland Kev F. Sutherland (born 18 October 1961) is a Scottish comedian and comic strip creator. He has drawn for a variety of publications, including ''The Beano''. He has produced several shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including The Sitcom T ...

(b. 1961) comedian and comic strip creator *

Keith Towler The Children's Commissioner for Wales is responsible for protecting children's rights as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Peter Clarke was the Commissioner from its introduction in 2001 until his death in 2007. The job int ...

social worker * Heather Tweed (b. 1959) visual artist * Frederick John Widgery (1861–1942) landscapist and mayor of Exeter

References

External links

Historical photos of the college

Spacex Gallery website

Exhibition catalogue written by Lesley Kerman

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627035410/http://sarahbennett.org.uk/projects-IT2.html , date=27 June 2013 Art schools in England Educational institutions established in 1854 Education in Exeter Further education colleges in Devon Buildings and structures in Exeter Arts organizations established in 1854 1854 establishments in England