Crafts Study Centre facts for kids
The Crafts Study Centre is a special museum at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey. It's a place where you can explore amazing modern crafts from Britain.
This museum has a huge collection of crafts from the 20th and 21st centuries. You'll find beautiful examples of calligraphy (fancy writing), ceramics (pottery), furniture, and textiles (fabrics). They also have smaller collections of jewellery, drawings, and other cool items.
Besides the crafts themselves, the Centre keeps important archives. These are like treasure chests of information, including diaries, letters, photos, and notes from the artists. Sometimes, they even have "source collections" – items artists collected from around the world for their own ideas and learning.
Many of the items in the collection were given as gifts or left to the museum by artists. Some famous artists whose work you can see include Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie, and Hans Coper (for ceramics). In textiles, there's work by Ethel Mairet, Phyllis Barron, and Dorothy Larcher. For calligraphy, you can find pieces by Edward Johnston and Irene Wellington. And for furniture, there are designs by Ernest Gimson and Edward Barnsley.
How the Centre Started
The Crafts Study Centre began in 1970. A small group of artists and teachers realized it was super important to save and celebrate the best British crafts from the 20th century. One of these important people was Muriel Rose. She became a founding trustee and gave her own collections and archives to the Centre.
This idea led to a great partnership with the University of Bath. The Centre's collections were first shown to the public in 1977 at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath. Later, in 2000, the Crafts Study Centre moved to Farnham in Surrey. This was because the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (now the University for the Creative Arts) offered to build a brand new space just for them. The Centre officially opened its new three-story building in June 2004.
Today, the Centre is a registered charity. This means it's a non-profit organization that helps the community. It's run by a Board of Trustees, and the current chairperson is the potter and writer Alison Britton. The Centre is also recognized as an accredited museum by Arts Council England, which means it meets high standards.
What You Can Do There
The Crafts Study Centre always has interesting exhibitions. They show items from their own collections and also display work by artists working today.
The Centre also hosts many events. You can attend talks, lectures, and workshops given by artists. They also have open days where you can explore and learn more about crafts.
Centre Facilities
The Crafts Study Centre has a shop where you can find cool things. They sell books about their past and present exhibitions, as well as craft magazines like Ceramic Review and Selvedge. The shop also sells unique items made by artists from all over the UK.
There's also a Library at the Centre. It has a collection of books and magazines all about crafts. If you're really interested in doing some deep research, you can book an appointment to use their Research Room. It's a quiet space perfect for studying the collections.
