Fifty years ago, in 1953, the foundation stone of the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design's Crawford Building was laid and the now internationally-renowned art school was born.
The new building, funded by a bequest from James Duncan of Jordanstone, enabled the institution to break away from the Dundee Technical College. It was in the new home that the art college - originally established in the mid-19th century - began building a collection of student art work. This is now cared for by the University of Dundee's Museum Services.
To mark this anniversary, an exhibition of work by both students and staff from the past 50 years of DJCAD will be on show at Verdant Works, West Henderson's Wynd, Dundee. Leading lights of Scottish contemporary art such as David Mach, Dennis Buchan, Richard Hunter and Will Maclean are among the artists represented in the exhibition College Collage. It runs from 6 December to 29 February 2004.
Editors' notes
Dundee's Art College began as part of the Technical Institute opened in 1888, though moves had first been made to set up an art school in the 1850s. The Technical Institute was built on Small's Wynd and shared facilities with the newly-established University College Dundee. In 1892 Thomas Delgaty Dunn became the first full-time art master, and the College today regards this as its date of foundation. By 1905 the building was becoming seriously overcrowded, and money was raised to move to new premises on Bell Street. The building was completed in 1911, and was renamed the Dundee Technical College & School of Art. In 1909 James Duncan of Jordanstone bequeathed £60,000 towards founding an independent art school in Dundee. Various problems meant that it was not until the 1930s that plans were finalised for a new College on Perth Road. The war then caused further delays and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design was opened in 1953, though it was not until 1975 that it became completely independent of the Technical College. In 1994 the College became a Faculty of the University of Dundee, and the College Art Collection became part of the University Museum Collections. Verdant Works is open Wed-Sat 10.30am - 4.30am, Sun 11am - 4.30pm, closed Monday and Tuesday.
By Esther Black, Press Officer 01382 344768, out of hours: 07968298585, e.z.black@dundee.ac.uk