The Beginning of Time

We are delighted to share the images below sent as festive postcards in 1906 and 1908. They show the room which is currently the library at Ruskin Hall and the teaching staff of those early days. These images were given to art has left the building, by Peter Beswick, who had received both postcards from one of his students. To date, they are the oldest images this project has of Bournville School of Art.

The People and The Place

It's the people that make a place and it's the people and the place that we plan to celebrate at art has left the building. We are still trying to sort out how to store online a delightful selection of scanned images. We hope to have many more to share over the coming months. 

One of my favourites to date is below, courtesy of Steve Butt. It's a photo of staff and students from an unidentified year in the 1980's. This photographic tradition had ceased to exist by the time I arrived on my course at Bournville but I think we ought to reinstate it for the final year.

Year 110

October 21st 2012 was the one hundred and ten year anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone which began the building of Ruskin Hall and the creation of Bournville School of Art.

This map shows Ruskin Hall in 1914 before the Maple Road building came into existence.

Art has left the building is designed to celebrate and commemorate the 111 years that Bournville School of Art will have been in existence. In July 2013 it closes its doors on its artistic legacy and becomes the Birmingham City University Language School, for international students.

This image was taken from the 1983 Bournville Yearbook created by students and now prescient, I imagine the cartoonists are amongst those pictured below.