West Dean College
West Dean College is situated in the 6,350-acre (25.7 km2) West Dean Estate, of West Dean near Chichester. The Estate was formerly the home of the poet and patron of the arts Edward James. He was an avid admirer of the Surrealist movement, and formed one of the largest collections of their works during his lifetime. He inherited West Dean House and the estate after the death of his father, William Dodge James.
In 1939 Edward wrote to Aldous Huxley, expressing his fear that after the war, certain arts, particularly the techniques of the craftsmen, would be lost. As a solution, James suggested that his Estate be set up as an educational community where the techniques of craftsmanship could be preserved and taught, whilst restoring old work and creating new art works. In 1964 James conveyed this Estate including West Dean House to the Edward James Foundation; in 1971 the Foundation established West Dean College as a centre for the study of conservation, arts, crafts, writing, gardening and music, providing both full-time and short courses. The Sussex Barn Gallery, Tapestry Studio and West Dean Gardens are also located on the Estate.
The College offers over 700 short courses a year, at various levels of experience and covering a wide range of subjects.
West Dean offers MA Degree and Diplomas programmes in Conservation Studies, Making and Visual Arts, validated by the University of Sussex.
The Conservation MA and Diploma can have a specialty in Conservation of Book and Library Materials, Ceramics and Related Materials, Clocks, Furniture and Related Objects and Metalwork.
The Visual Arts MA and Diploma is in Visual Arts, Painting and Drawing, Sculpture or Tapestry and Textile Art. Graduates include artists Pippa Blake and Tim Kent, who have gone on to exhibit their work in a variety of galleries. The College also offers Diploma courses in Making Stringed Musical Instruments.
The West Dean Tapestry Studio was established in 1974 to provide high-level craft-based programmes in woven tapestry, one of only a very small number of such studios worldwide. Their first major commission were The Henry Moore Tapestries. Tapestries woven by the studio are in the Palace of Westminster, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Chelmsford Cathedral. As well as new designs, the Studio is also engaged in recreating the 16th-century 'The Hunt of the Unicorn' tapestries, part of a twelve-year project for Historic Scotland, for the refurbishment of Stirling Castle. The Studio wove a tapestry for Tracey Emin based on her Black Cat painting; it was shown at the Saatchi Gallery in May 2011.
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