Students of art and design have been learning and creating behind the iconic façade of the University’s School of Art since 1885. Sian Vaughan, Keeper of Archives at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, guides us through 125 years of art at Margaret Street.
2010 sees the University celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the School of Art building. Affectionately known as ‘Margaret Street’, this Grade One listed building is one of the jewels in the University’s estate and has both a history worthy of celebration and an exciting future as a home for creativity and innovation.
The erection of the Margaret Street building marks a significant moment in the cultural history of the city of Birmingham and in the development of art education in the UK. Not only was Margaret Street the first purpose-built art school in the country, in 1885 Birmingham became the first Municipal School of Art. In 1843, what was then called the Birmingham Government School of Design had opened in a few rented rooms in New Street as part of a national attempt to improve the quality of design and taste in Britain. The municipalisation of Birmingham’s School in 1885 made it responsible to local rate-payers, leaving the Department of Science and Art in London with an examining and quality control role. This increased independence was marked by more local entry scholarships and liaison with local industries
The close relationship between the citizens of Birmingham and its School of Art is evident in the funding of the new building. The site had been presented by Cregoe Colmore and donations of £10,000 each to cover the construction costs were given by Richard Tangye and the Ryland sisters (initially anonymously) on the condition that the Town Council managed the school and if necessary supported it from the rates.
The building was originally constructed in two phases, and 2010 is the 125th anniversary of the first phase, the main building which runs along Margaret Street. This was designed by local architect John Henry Chamberlain. Sadly, Chamberlain died in October 1883 and never saw his masterpiece finished. His partner Martin (who had been a student at the School of Design in its early days) completed the project. An elaborate invention of Venetian Gothic, the building's internal and external decoration reflected the ideas of John Ruskin on the variety of Nature as the fount of all art. For example on the Edmund Street elevation the window heads consist of terra cotta decorative foliage. On the left gable of the main elevation on Margaret Street is a large 'lily and lattice' circular panel of terracotta and the façade is decorated with tiles and terracotta panels showing flowers and foliage. Inside the concourse, the carved stone capital of each column is decorated with a different type of leaf or flower.
The central entrance is reminiscent of the entrance to a medieval cathedral. You enter through a Gothic stone archway, decorated above with red and white tiles, Venetian mosaic and glass. Walking up a stone entrance staircase between arcaded walls of granite and terra cotta, under a panelled wood ceiling to a lead-lighted screen the doors open into the museum space (now known as the concourse) and the interior is equally impressive. The imposing church-like ambience was intended to have a moral and aesthetic effect on the students.
The impression within the public areas of the building is of sumptuousness and quality; however it goes beyond mere appearance and is the result of the educational philosophy which inspired its nineteenth century builders. Under E.R Taylor, (Headmaster 1877-1903) the Birmingham School of Art lead the way in changing art and design education in the UK by introducing practical workshops inspired by the principles of the Arts & Crafts movement. As well as drawing inspiration from natural forms, proponents of Arts & Crafts advocated truth to materials and the value of traditional craftsmanship. In Birmingham, this manifested in the quality and decoration of the Margaret Street building and also in the facilities provided for students.
Whilst it was common to find students drawing and designing for specified materials on paper in most large art schools, it was unusual to find evidence of crafting in materials, or any real understanding of design's technical consequences. In 1893 an extension to the building along Cornwall Street was opened to provide more practical craft workshops, known as Art Laboratories. The scene was now set for a small revolution in teaching where all designs were carried out in the materials for which they were intended - the arts and crafts movement as educational practice. As well as drawing, painting and designing on paper, the workshops facilitated classes in embroidery, enamelling; wood carving and lithography.
Margaret Street has at one time or another been home to almost all the disciplines currently taught in the faculty, Birmingham Institute of Art & Design. 1894 saw the introduction of a course for house painters and decorators, quickly followed by stained glass making (1898), a School of Architecture (1909), fashion plate drawing (1911) and printing classes (1914). Whilst the hand-craft style of the arts and crafts movement gradually became redundant, the practice of working with actual materials had become enshrined into art school teaching. In 1924 with the establishment of classes for cabinet makers, furniture design and manufacture joined the wide range of subjects taught in the building. By 1934-35, the building housed students from ten schools, the Schools of: Architecture; Cabinet Making; Commercial Art; Dress Design, Embroidery and Weaving; House Painting and Interior Decoration; Industrial Design and Draughtsmanship; Painting; Printing and Sculpture, plus an extra School for Training Art Teachers.
The School stayed open throughout the years of the Second World War, with a much reduced staff and student body and the building suffering some bomb damage. The immediate post-war period saw the beginning of the movement of other subjects away from Margaret Street as the now College of Arts and Crafts continued to expand. By 1946-47, cabinet making was being taught at the School of Furniture and Allied Crafts at New John Street; Dress Design, Embroidery and Weaving at Handsworth; and House Painting and Decorating at Adderley Street. By 1953-54, the classes in photography, theatrical design and machine embroidery had moved to Cambridge Street. Classes for trainee teachers were moved to Priory Road, Edgbaston in 1956-57 and the following year the School of Planning opened in Broad Street. With the development of the Gosta Green campus in the early 1960s, there was a substantial reduction in the number of subjects taught at Margaret Street. By 1964-65, only painting, sculpture, ceramics, and a limited number of classes in print making and graphic design were run from the School of Art building. As the School became a specialist fine art facility, and mirroring changes in art education, classrooms became studios where each student had a personal space.
The large numbers of creative students that were based in the building over the years took their toll, as did the polluted city centre atmosphere. By the last decade of the twentieth century the building was dilapidated and becoming unusable. In 1991 the exterior was cleaned to reveal the original details and decoration which had been obscured by decades of pollution. From 1993 to 1995 the building underwent an extensive £5,500,000 renovation, overseen by Kyle Stewart Ltd, Associated Architects and Ove Arup. The public spaces were returned as much as possible to their original nineteenth century appearance and flexible new spaces were created. Pastiche was deliberately avoided and the addition of steel mezzanines, additional rooms and glass lifts were sympathetic to the building whilst being uncompromisingly modern. It is a testament to the both sets of architects, original and renovating, that this nineteenth-century purpose built art school functions superbly in the twenty-first century. With the addition of wireless networks and facilities for digital work, fine art flourishes in Margaret Street in all its contemporary forms with painting and sculpture complemented with performance, film and interactive digital work. It is a building that still impresses and inspires today.
