Falmouth University

Falmouth University is a specialist public university for the creative industries based in Falmouth and Penryn, Cornwall, England. Founded as Falmouth School of Art in 1902, it was later known as Falmouth College of Art and Design and then Falmouth College of Arts until 2012, when the university college was officially granted full university status by the Privy Council.

The university is located across two campuses, in the towns of Penryn and Falmouth. Penryn Campus, near the town of Penryn, is the larger of its two campuses, which it operates in partnership with the University of Exeter. The Falmouth Campus is in Falmouth town centre. Falmouth University has about 7,000 students as of 2023, offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Falmouth University was founded as the Falmouth School of Art in 1902, in response to the decline of scientific activities in Cornwall due to the diminishing Cornish mining industry.

In 1902, Falmouth School of Art was a wholly private venture and offered classes such as Freehand Drawing, Model Drawing, Painting from Still Life, Drawing from the Antique, Drawing in Light & Shade, and Memory Drawing of Plant Form. Students were charged between four and ten shillings per session for the privilege, and were offered the opportunity to enter for Board of Education exams.

In 1938, the Local Education Authority (LEA) took over the administration of the institution.

In the 1940s, courses became the responsibility of the head of Truro School of Art, Stanley Wright, was appointed principal, the school was recognised by the Ministry of Education and began to plan ambitious expansion. At this time there were six full-time members of teaching staff responsible for 21 full-time students, 55 part-time day students and 104 part-time evening students. Students were offered the option of studying either "art" or "craft". Art, by definition, covered fine art, drawing and painting, museum study, and modelling and casting in clay. "Craft" included leather, weaving, bookbinding, block printing and wood inlay.

In the 1950s, the college relocated from Arwenack Avenue to Kerris Vean in Woodlane (built in 1875), Jack Bridger Chalker was appointed principal and courses for the Ministry of Education's Intermediate and National Diploma in Design Examinations were offered for the first time. Studios for sculpture and printed textiles were constructed in the grounds. The school now occupied a unique site in the former Fox-Rosehill sub-tropical gardens (which rivalled many others of great renown, such as Glendurgan and Trebah), Michael Finn was appointed principal, the school began a commercial design course for vocational students as well as a junior design course for school children, and the National Advisory Council for Art Education (NACAE) was established.

In the 1960s, the NACAE published its first report, Peter Lanyon and Terry Frost were appointed as visiting lecturers, a further storey was added to the textiles and sculpture workshops for use as a printmaking studio, and alterations to Kerris Vean presented opportunities for the study of photography. The question for Falmouth at this time was whether an art school with only 120 students, situated in a remote and economically disadvantaged part of the country, could compete for recognition with much larger institutions, against a national backdrop of changing approaches to art education. The LEA and leading artists such as Dame Barbara Hepworth, Bryan Wynter and Patrick Heron were both generous with, and energetic in, their support of the School.