Nottingham College of Art

The School of Art & Design now part of Nottingham Trent University has educational roots dating back to the formation of the Nottingham Government School of Design in 1843 and has since gone through many transformations. Nottingham’s art school opened its door in April 1843 and was the first government art school to be established outside London. From that time onwards Nottingham School of Art exhibited students' works to the public including the 1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. From 1888 the School was known as the Nottingham Municipal School of Art and Design and was governed by the Nottingham Castle Museum and School of Art Committee. One of its most famous pupils enrolled in 1890 namely Laura Knight (nee Johnson) who in 1929 became the first female British artist to be made a Dame of the British Empire. Other well-known alumni included illustrator Dudley Dexter Watkins who enrolled as a 15-year-old in 1922 before relocating to Glasgow where he continued his studies at Glasgow School of Art. He was the creator of Desperate Dan and Lord Snooty for the Dandy and Beano comics respectively

In 1934 another name change occurred when the school became known as Nottingham College of Art. The College suffered bomb damage during World War II and in 1947 it became known as The Central College of Art for Derby, Lincoln, Leicester and Nottingham. The College was divided into four schools, namely a School of Architecture, a School of Design, a School of Drawing and a School of Modelling and Sculpture. During the mid-60's there was strong interest in conceptual art, and the School embraced this fully when the sculptor Victor Burgin joined the staff. In 1969 the College merged with the Regional College of Technology to be known as Trent Polytechnic. In the late 1980's many of the faculties merged into what in 1992 became Nottingham Trent University with several individual faculties covering all aspects of art and design.