BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL OF ART
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists founded the Birmingham Government School of Design in 1843 and George Wallis (1811–1891), an artist and art educator, was headmaster 1852–1858. Birmingham Town Council took over the School in 1877 to form the United Kingdom's first municipal college of art. The Margaret Street building opened in 1885 as the first Municipal School of Art, liaising closely with local industries and the school became the first Municipal School of Art becoming the leading centre for the Arts and Crafts Movement. An associated School of Architecture was formed in 1909 and received recognition by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1923. By the 1960s, the School had outgrown the original Margaret Street building and expanded into the campus of the University of Aston in Gosta Green. In 1971, with the founding of Birmingham Polytechnic, the School of Art lost its independence and became the Polytechnic's Faculty of Art and Design. In 1988, this in turn absorbed the former Bournville School of Art to form the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, the largest centre for education in art, design and the media in the United Kingdom outside London. Birmingham Polytechnic gained university status in 1992 as the University of Central England, which was renamed Birmingham City University in 2007. Today the BA (Hons) Art and Design course has relocated to Margaret Street, while the Bournville site now supports the Birmingham City University International College.
Website: https://www.bcu.ac.uk