SCHOOL OF ART

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25271, 25 August 1947, Page 6

SCHOOL OF ART

ACCOMMODATION NOT ADEQUATE NEW BUILDING DELAYED Serious congestion continues at the School of Art at Canterbury University College. The building has long been inadequate for the numbers accommodated; but since the war the influx of rehabilitation bursars has aggravated the position. The director (Mr C. Lovell-Smith) said that it would be a red-letter day for art students and the staff when approval was given to proceed with the erection of a new school, for which a section has been secured on the corner of Gloucester and Montreal streets This year the school had 126 fulltime students, of whom 44 were from the North Island and only 63 from Christchurch. There were 293 parttime students, including those attending classes in the evenings and on Saturday mornings. There had been little change in the accommodation ■ available since about 1904 when only a fraction of this number attended, said Mr Lovell-Smith.

Students reaching advanced stages, after beginning late in the war years, now over-taxed classes in which plenty of room was essential, he said. These included life and still-life painting and metal work.

A photograph of a life class, published in “The Press” recently, indicated that students had little room to move and were compelled to work in awkward positions, he added. Most of the rooms were in use from 9.30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The only relief came when classes were out doing landscape work, and this depended on good weather.

Before the 1914-18 war, the average class would be about 12 to 15. he said; but now it went up to 23. The school had not been built for art work and this meant the rooms were really unsuitable and natural- lighting presented a problem.

The position was not likely to improve for some years, said Mr LovellSmith, because only about 12 senior students would graduate this year and new enrolments would probably number at least 30. There were 22 fulltime bursars studying for the Diploma of Fine Arts.

Demonstrating cramped quarters. Mr Lovell-Smith said that clay modelling and stone carving had both to be done in one room. Another room, 9ft by 18ft, was used for etching, lithography, wood engraving, silk screen printing, and illuminating The plan to build a new school of art had been held up for a long time, said Mr Lovell-Smith. The section had been secured more than 15 years ago and the Education Department had recognised the urgent need for better accommodation; but latest advice from the Government indicated that it might be some time before the scheme could be reconsidered.