The Crafts Study Centre is a university museum of modern crafts, located next to the entrance of the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in Southern England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Institu ...

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. The Crafts Study Centre holds collections of 20th and 21st century British craft, primarily in the fields of calligraphy and lettering, ceramics, furniture and wood, and textiles, but also has small collections of jewellery, works of art on paper, and other miscellaneous items. The object collections are accompanied by archives such as diaries, correspondence, photographs, catalogues and working notes from crafts practitioners and crafts organisations. In some cases the Centre also holds ‘source collections’, collected from around the world by makers for their own inspiration, enjoyment and knowledge. Much of the collection has been built up from donations and bequests and includes work by

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979) was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (n� ...

Lucie Rie Dame Lucie Rie, (16 March 1902 – 1 April 1995) () was an Austrian-born, independent, British studio potter. She is known for her extensive technical knowledge, her meticulously detailed experimentation with glazes and with firing and her unu ...

, and

Hans Coper Hans Coper (8 April 1920 – 16 June 1981) was an influential German-born British studio potter. His work is often coupled with that of Lucie Rie due to their close association, even though their best known work differs dramatically, wit ...

in ceramics,

Ethel Mairet Ethel Mary Partridge, Ethel Mary Mairet Royal Designers for Industry, RDI, or Ethel Mary Coomaraswamy (17 February 1872 – 18 November 1952) was a British hand loom Weaving, weaver, significant in the development of the craft during the first h ...

Phyllis Barron Mabel Phyllis Barron (19 March 1890 – 23 November 1964) was an English designer, known for her textile printing workshop with Dorothy Larcher. These textiles are ‘noted for the assurance and originality of the designs, their distinctive and ...

and

Dorothy Larcher Dorothy Larcher (1884–1952) was an English designer of textiles, known for the printing workshops she shared with Phyllis Barron in Hampstead (1923–1930) and Painswick, Gloucestershire (1930–1940). Early life and education Dorothy Larcher ...

in textiles; calligraphy by

Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (San José de Mayo, Uruguay 11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a ...

and Irene Wellington, and furniture by

Ernest Gimson Ernest William Gimson (; 21 December 1864 – 12 August 1919) was an English furniture designer and architect. Gimson was described by the art critic Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest of the English architect-designers". Today his reputat ...

and Edward Barnsley.

History

The Centre was established in 1970 when a small group of crafts makers and educators agreed it was vital to preserve and celebrate the best British crafts of the 20th century. This included

Muriel Rose Muriel Rose (1897–1986) was a collector and publiciser of modern craft and design, a curator, gallery owner and writer, and important in the later Arts and Crafts movement. She has been described as having "made a formidable contribution to t ...

, who became one of the founding trustees and donated her collections and archive to the Centre. The decision to establish the Crafts Study Centre led to a successful partnership with the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, which housed its collections at the city’s

Holburne Museum of Art The Holburne Museum (formerly known as the Holburne of Menstrie Museum and the Holburne Museum of Art) is located in Sydney Pleasure Gardens, Bath, Somerset, England. The city's first public art gallery, the Grade I listed building, is home to ...

when the Centre first opened to the public in 1977. In 2000 the Crafts Study Centre relocated to Farnham in Surrey to accept the offer of what was then the

Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (189 ...

, today the University for the Creative Arts, to construct a new purpose-built space. The Centre opened in a three-storey building in June 2004. The Centre is a registered charity with a Board of Trustees, currently chaired by the potter and writer

Alison Britton Alison Claire Britton OBE (born 4 May 1948) is a British ceramic artist, with an international reputation, known for her large sculptural, slab-built vessels. Biography Britton was born in Harrow, London, the daughter of the educationalist Jame ...

. It is an accredited museum as recognised by

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

Exhibitions and events

The Crafts Study Centre has a programme of exhibitions from both its permanent collections and of work by contemporary artists and makers. It also hosts talks, lectures, symposiums, open days, workshops and other events by artist-makers.

Facilities

The Crafts Study Centre has a shop, which sells publications from its exhibitions present and past and other titles, alongside crafts magazines such as ''Ceramic Review'' and ''Selvedge''. The shop also stocks work by makers from across the UK. The Centre also has a Library with a collection of books and periodicals relating to craft, and a Research Room which is available to the public by appointment for dedicated research visits.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Museums established in 1970 Contemporary crafts museums Museums in Surrey Art museums and galleries in Surrey University museums in England University for the Creative Arts Charities based in Surrey 1970 establishments in England