Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
Logo of the SMSA
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| Motto | Making a difference through learning |
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| Founded | 1833 |
| Founder | Henry Carmichael |
| Type | non-profit |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 33°52′27″S 151°12′29″E / 33.87418°S 151.20818°E |
| Mission | Adult education |
| Website | smsa |
The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA) is the longest running School of Arts (also known as a "Mechanics' Institute") and the oldest continuous lending library in Australia.
Founded in 1833, the school counted many of the colony's educated elite as members, and quickly positioned itself as a centre for social change and intellectual life of the city of Sydney with a program of public lectures, courses, lending library and other activities based on its mission of adult education. Now in new premises, the SMSA continues to offer public education programs and grants today. In 2011 the SMSA opened The Tom Keneally Centre, which holds the research collection of world-renowned author Thomas Keneally from his private collection and memorabilia.
By the early 1830s, Sydney Town had come a long way from its origins as a convict colony four decades earlier and free settlers were increasing in numbers. The Reverend John Dunmore Lang wished to build an Australian College in Sydney and sent Reverend Henry Carmichael to recruit craftsmen in Scotland. On the return journey in 1831 aboard the Stirling Castle Carmichael gave classes to some of these men. They formed the nucleus of a Mechanics' Institute when they arrived in Sydney.
Mechanics' Institutes were a recent phenomenon – the first one had been set up in Scotland in 1821 – and their aim was the intellectual improvement of their members, through the diffusion of scientific and other useful knowledge, and the cultivation of literature, science and art. While it still had some 21,000 convicts, the free and freed population of Sydney was growing, and assisted immigration was helping to create a new society. The establishment of a Legislative Council to advise the Governor of New South Wales brought responsible government a step closer. Businessmen with a social conscience set up "civilising" institutions such as the Savings Bank of NSW in 1832. The following year the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts was founded after a meeting on the 22nd of March between Carmichael with Surveyor-General Major Thomas Mitchell and Dr Charles Nicholson who "...resolved to found an institution similar to those established in England by Dr. Bricbeck, Dr. Ure, and other distinguished promoters of popular education."
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