Culture Secretary visits Glasgow School of Art
Sajid Javid sees how £5 million of UK Government funding will help restore the fire-damaged Glasgow School of Art.
The fire at the school on 23 May damaged the 1907-1909 section of the internationally significant Mackintosh Building and the Culture Secretary today visited the school.
The UK Government has committed an additional £5 million to go toward the costs of creating the school’s Graduate and Research Centre, which was announced by the Chancellor on Tuesday 22nd July. This is on top of the £5 million the UK Government announced last month for the school’s Mackintosh Appeal, which aims to raise £20 million to help with repairs.
The fire has meant the school’s plans to create a revolutionary Graduate and Research Centre has lost momentum and the £10m Government investment, will help the school achieve its ambitious future.
Sajid Javid said:
The damage done by the fire to the magnificent Mackintosh Building is terrible but what really hits is the loss of students’ work and the many hours of creativity and dedication they poured into it.
The resilience shown by the staff and students since the terrible fire is a real inspiration.
I’m pleased the Government has been able to help secure the future of the Glasgow School of Art and I look forward to returning to see the Mackintosh Building when it has been restored to its former glory.
The Glasgow School of Art was founded in 1845 as one of the first government schools of design. It is widely recognised as one of Europe’s foremost university-level institutions for creative education and research in fine art, design and architecture.
It has produced many of the UK’s leading contemporary artists such as Douglas Gordon and David Shrigley and three recent Turner Prize winners: Simon Starling in 2005, Richard Wright in 2009 and Martin Boyce in 2011. Other former students include Harry Potter/Cracker star Robbie Coltrane, the new Doctor Who Peter Capaldi and artist Peter Howson OBE.
The building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the School’s most distinguished alumni, in the late 19th century. It’s one of Glasgow – and Scotland’s and the UK’s – most iconic and best known buildings and was judged to be best building of the past 175 years in a nationwide poll run by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
On 18 June the school formally launched the Mackintosh Appeal, with Brad Pitt and Peter Capaldi amongst its trustees, and aims to raise around £20 million to support the institution in the work that needs to be undertaken following the fire.