Lincoln College of Art

The Lincoln College of Art was an educational institution devoted to the arts, based in the English city of Lincoln with its origins in the mid-nineteenth century. The institution changed shape and name numerous times over its history before being absorbed into the University of Lincoln. Midway through the nineteenth century, the then British Government's Department of Science and Art, based in South Kensington, began establishing a network of art schools as a means of promoting and aiding manufacturing. One of the oldest institutions of its kind in Britain, it became one of Britain's leading art schools, and was one of the first to introduce the teaching of the techniques derived from the French School of Impressionism. Many of its students went on to exhibit at the Paris Salon and the Royal Academy. Amongst its alumni are members of the Newlyn School and two Royal Academicians. It also popularised the art and crafts exhibitions in Lincolnshire that became important annual events in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Lincoln School of Art has its origins in the art school movement that followed the 1851 Great Exhibition. The School was founded as a private venture, with the support of the Department of Science and Art, on Monday 2 February 1863, in a single room on the Corn Exchange, Lincoln. Its guiding light was John Somerville Gibney, a minor canon of Lincoln Cathedral, and its first headmaster was Edward R. Taylor, founder of Birmingham School of Art and inventor of Ruskin Pottery.

The courses on offer were arranged into three levels: Elementary, Advanced, and Special or Technical. These levels were divided into classes:

As a result of the school's success in its first year, new premises were sought for and acquired above the National School for Boys' on the south side of Silver Street. This new school room was opened 10 October 1864, and was of a size to allow its use as an exhibition space. A public exhibit was held in November of that year and proved so popular that the floor had to be re-enforced. With the growth of engineering in Lincoln, there was a need for draughtsmen to produce accurate drawings of machine and engineering parts, and to illustrate catalogues, and so the school offered courses on draughtsmanship. The Rev. Gibney himself became a student by studying the skill of engraving on to copper. He produced his own publication, 'Etchings of Lincoln Cathedral' (1870), using this method.

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