Art

Facilities

The Art School is situated in Sutcliff’s on Great College Street behind Dean’s Yard. It contains four studios that encompass two printmaking rooms with two Albion presses for relief printing and an etching press. There is a large darkroom with facilities for both black and white and colour processing and enlargement. The Art School opens daily until 6.30 p.m. and remains open late one evening a week for Upper School pupils.

Teaching

All boys take Art in Year 9 (at the age of 13) for one hour a week. Over a third of pupils choose to take GCSE Art, which involves time both in and outside the timetable. At A Level, about 20 pupils per year embark on the course and some continue to art school foundation and degree courses. At Westminster, the emphasis is on drawing and painting, including life drawing – a compulsory part of the A Level course.

Exhibitions and displays

Apart from displays in the studios, work by pupils is widely shown in public areas of the School and exhibitions are frequently presented in the Carleton Gallery in the Library.

Galleries and museums

Within central London, the wealth of galleries and museums within easy reach, serve as an invaluable asset. The A level art historians find it most advantageous as they can study at the nearby Tate, National and Courtauld Galleries.