The University of Ulster is staging a major retrospective exhibition celebrating the 160th anniversary of its School of Art and Design.
The show will depict the School’s evolution, achievements and its many distinguished artists. It will demonstrate the School’s significance across the artistic landscape of Ireland and beyond and will acknowledge its importance over the past century and a half, whilst also marking the School’s contemporary role and its move into a new era at the Belfast campus.
Background
The Retrospective Exhibition will be the highlight of a series of events staged throughout 2009 to mark the School of Art and Design’s 160th anniversary. Founded in 1849 as the Belfast Government School of Art, it is one of the oldest schools in Ireland, having progressed through several transformations to its current position at its state-of-the-art facilities in York Street.
Many of Ireland’s most distinguished artists and designers have been associated with the School as students and/or teachers, such as William Conor (1881–1968), Colin Middleton (1910–1983), William Scott (1913–1989), F. E. McWilliam (1909–1992), Basil Blackshaw (1932- ) and Max Glendinning (1934- ).
The Exhibition
The exhibition will be held from 3 December 2009 to 31 January 2010 at the Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast. It will follow the School’s history, illustrating work drawn from its different eras, encompassing a range of disciplines including life drawings, fine art, photography, interior design, ceramics, textiles and video.
The exhibition will celebrate the breadth and quality of the creative talent emanating from the School, placing it in the context of its
many changes over the past 160 years.The exhibition will be opened by Terence P. Flanagan – a University of Ulster alumnus and one of Ireland’s best known and distinguished landscape painters. A series of workshops and a commemorative catalogue will complement the exhibition.
