School of Art wins UK award for innovation

THE Manchester School of Art has been awarded the 2012 Sir Misha Black prize for Innovation in Design Education.

It will be presented to Professor David Crow, Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design, at the Royal College of Art, London in March.

Under Professor Crow’s leadership a radical repositioning of the old school has taken place. It has reverted to its original name ‘Manchester School of Art’ and its original ethos of ‘supporting the creative economy of the region’.

This fundamental rethink has been translated into a £32M programme to create an entirely new building and refurbish others.

Employability

The Awards committee noted that these carefully thought out facilities would reinforce the school’s plans to enervate curriculum innovation and employability through multidisciplinary and collaborative working.

As part of this process the Manchester Design Lab has been established – a multi-tiered project linked to professionals working in the region, design studios, city galleries, regional councillors and researchers. It now includes Contemporary Crafts Practice and has been augmented with a Media Lab, with both labs linked across the university with colleagues in Science and Engineering and Humanities.

Professor Crow and his colleagues under Jane McFadyen are now introducing an experimental and innovative new ‘Unit X’ across the entire undergraduate curriculum ensuring every art student takes part in an external facing, multidisciplinary team project in each year of their study.

Staff teams have been created to support this collaborative work both inside and outside the School of Art. Plans are afoot to link the staff and students at Manchester School of Art with other major institutions along what is now known as ‘The Corridor’ and destined to become the cultural heart of the city.

Professor David Crow said: “This is a special honour, well deserved for all our staff and a nice start to the year.”