HAMPSTEAD FINE ARTS COLLEGE

1978 - ?

Hampstead Fine Arts College in Belsize Park was founded in 1978 by Nicholas James Cochrane (1949-) and his wife Candida Cave (1952-) in the YMCA on Tottenham Court Road, an independent sixth form college specialising in the study of Arts and Humanities, where artist Cave was the principal. In 1982, the College moved to Belsize Park and expanded its curriculum. In 2002 the College moved to Centre Studios, a converted Victorian dairy in Englands Lane, which remains its main site. Nicholas Cochrane and Candida Cave were married in 1973 and have two children but are now divorced and their daughter Emmeline was head of History of Art at the college. Cochrane retired from the business around 2014, partly due to ill health, and in 2015 Cave sold the college to the Duke’s Education Group run by Aatif Hassan. Suffolk artists who studied at Hampstead Fine Arts College include Judith Glover, Helen Taylor and Karen Turner.

Julia Candy Cave