ART IN AUCKLAND

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9076, 22 June 1915, Page 7

ART IN AUCKLAND

THE ELAM SCHOOL OF ABX, r ' (By Onlooker.) . Xhe Elam School at Art, Auckland, is She dt the most peculiar iusutuuons in. the educational tite, ot this country, it is coUtroiled by the hahd of tiis dead. It efremfe the money of 'the country to Ida tune of £ii)sU ids 5d a year, apart Irani the tn'bhey ounled m its nuge and badly-designed buiidibg, and none can Bay it n'iy. ' The . history Sorttais peculiar edubatibhal ihslitutioii is wrapped m ..mystery,; The management eee to tnat. its mbvemehte , are. also-in .the murk. T’he. itoai'd > «&-** phatfcaliy Sfeb to that. The public might as* inconvenient questions; as, lor inbcanoe, why 'the diloccor of a email echeol, with ah att'ehdahhe of SKI (1 quote the director—no authentic figures seem available!, with, a a call of tnree instruotora, is paid nine pounds a week, while the director of an art school, eay, like Christchurch, with double the pupils aha 'double the fetaff-, is paid Only a pound more? At the present moment the suocess of the ; Elam Art School, is 'so marked th&t all ,thd advanced |tuUentß, twenty or more, have resigned in a hddy and set Up a studio upon their afea account, where, there . will at least be some method- This really does hot matter from, the, point ,j o f;- v . l ?Y.cr < il -the mahagdfiSht. BdeadSe, it inha. Msdn publicly fespressea that the Elam Sohodl iif Art does hot want students; but the board contrives to draw a largo capitation grant, X notice. I verily wonder why- i most persistently wonder How ? In the year 1890'an Auckland doctor. Dr Elam, died, and bequeathed his property to.found a local School .of Art. He appointed three ttustees, with po*er tb add to their nhmbefc. three mb re. Xhie was done. One of them the director of the school. Ko outsider, had any obhirbi in the Matter. The board fixed and immutable; a, nice..little comfortable arrangement was come to, and eVerythihg iff thh garden was lovely. The board of managers was formed of koine of the .finest examples of modern “Reform." whose belief in ■ the power of the “Haves" was rooted andfirm* But* hlas! even in this little “Heiorm paradise there was a thorn The bequest Was only,a moderate sum; at the present time the investments on mortgages are gi'freh as only £6250.. More money was heeded. - It was procured 1 by coming unrder'the capitation, grant, and so at the btesent , tune the; country is treated, to the spectacle of an autocratic board., beyond the reach of the public arm, able to dip its hand into the public purse and dispose of the public money exactly as it thinks fit. • Truly the Elam School of Art, Auckland, is a remarkable institution, . . , ~ It is usnal to judge a school by its work but-this school carefully keeps out of the arehawfiofe Irtudehlcbmfibtei against .studeht; In the .report of Manual and Technical. Education,. 1913, the latest figtirfes lb hand, "the report etHaife that in the; national art oompetitibhs held by the Board of . Education; London, at which all the hit schools of England compete, the . Christchurch School of Ait won five certificates And phi book prize, Wellington won , four oertifecatos and two book prizes, while Phlmerston. North, carried off one,hook prize. Elam School is not mentioned. Instead the director, in his report, expresses the opinion that .these bofifests shbuld he done a way. kith and Ideal contests substituted. Exactly. It is so Much easier to show results with a, welltrained body of pure "Reformers" behind the scene pulling the wire*. . Ih the saute report the 'Canterbury school shows an average of over 350 students a term, for Which the school draws £47 Us 7d for free _ places add £1463 Ts Off for Mil ,*bo pif, feted. ■■~, ,Ytet Auckland manages .to draw last year £1959 odd upon, 200, free students, which the director states is the average attendance. This seems to an onlooker a peculiar state of affairs, and one that needs some attention from. 1 thte .Liberal members of the Government whd art not agreeable to see the money of the country. poured into the keeping of as fine a eocene of pseudo reformers as ivew Zealand boasts. How the country’s money comes to be handed ont to a board of managers ¥hS are aoteblhtely Ihdepenuent of; outside -control. 1 "and. boast about the fact, remains a. mystery, like eo mhh'y things about the Eiafn School of Ait- This interesting product of autocratic rule opens at 9 in the morning, closes at 13 for two hours, onens again at 2, and finally finishes its strenubiis Shy at Mlt-pael 8 At fis latest. Then the over-worked stall look' up aid go some to recuperate'against"the short, very short, evening session. It. employs a life master, to whom it pays the muuificent sum of three pounas a week, and two Junior instructors. This is. the maximum salary. The director draws nine pounds, and the inan who is cipable of conducting the life work draws three, in Christchurch, the director draws £SOO a year, and the maximum for the instructors Is £350- Auckland; has the unique distinction of paying its director at a higher rate in relation to attendance. and its instructor at a lower rate than Any school in New Zealand. At the present time it is common talk in the city .that this position of chief instructor is being kept warm for the km of a highly-placed Official in the Ed'ucational Department; a pretty little arrangement, which. if it comes to pass; will consolidate any breaches likely to be made in the walls of private interest. It is time this thing was stopped, and it is to draw.the attention of the general public of New Zeajand to what has become A c'fyihg sodndal that I write to the "New Zealand Himes.” The subject is well known, iri Auckland, but ho Aucklander has eufflcieHtcourage to clean oat this.- Augean stable, when so ; many highly-placed "Reform” supporters are in power. There are ways in. Auckland of silencing A, too critical V-bice hot known In other townA, Ahd.Ab Hie .tid? sweeps along. . The rest of New Zealand provides the money which the board of managers of the Elam School or Art distribute in a; manner which leaves the teaching of Art’or craft in Auckland a by-word and feoutue bf laughter to every person who has any knowledge £ha,tever of the-work done educationally in the other art schools of the. Dominion.