470 A SCHOOL OF ART AND THE COMMUNITY. 



of trades which it can serve. Local societies should be encouraged 

 to hold their meetings in the school, and every possible endeavour 

 made to strengthen the tie between the school and industry. It 

 is advisable to have representatives from the various trades on the 

 advisory committee of the school. One great advantage resulting 

 from such co-operation is the preparing of a list of apprentices 

 in the various trades and professions. If these lists were prepared 

 systematically it is possible to know how many new boys will be 

 wanted each year to fill vacancies, also to prevent the preparatory 

 training of too many boys. Attendance at the school should be 

 a condition of apprenticeship. Co-operation also brings the local 

 requirements to the notice of the head teacher; the work of the 

 school should be based to a great extent upon the needs of the 

 •community. 



In order to further the relationship of the school to industry 

 it is necessary that the staff should be carefully selected and 

 adequately paid. Instructors should be both teachers and crafts- 

 men, well trained, and with as wide an experience as possible in 

 their various crafts. Such instructors are not easily found; many 

 good craftsmen refuse to accept teaching posts owing to the lack 

 of sympathy in, and red tape methods of, educational authorities. 

 Mere paper qualifications, which are so much prized by some 

 •educational bodies, as absolute essentials, are by no means "the 

 last word" for an art instructor. I do not believe drawing to be 

 of much value unless taught by somebody who believes whole- 

 heartedly in the subject of art. What is needed is a precise, scien- 

 tific and practical foundation on which the imagination and 

 activities of the young can be built. We need not so much schools 

 of art, as schools of practical knowledge, not so much art training, 

 as training in workmanship, with all that the word implies. Men 

 who can retain and teach the old traditions of craftsmanship are 

 difficult to find. If a good staff is to maintain its efficiency the 

 authorities must allow adequate free time to the instructors, in 

 order to enable them to continue working in their particular craft. 

 The best of instructors will deteriorate and become a mere walking 

 text book if all practice ceases, and in consequence the teaching 

 loses all vitality and freshness — two qualities most essential to art 

 instruction. It is advisable for instructors to be engaged as "full 

 time" instructors, and then arrange that half their time be devoted 

 to teaching. In many instances it is only necessary to give instruc- 

 tion in the principles underlying a trade, leaving the practical 

 work to the factory, but this is hardly the case in dealing with 

 crafts covered by the curriculum of an art school. In the prac- 

 tical operation the skilled craftsman learns his art. 



Naturally it is with the view to raising the standard of indus- 

 trial art that the school is chiefly concerned, but it is of little avail 

 if we succeed in our endeavour, only to find that there is no demand 

 for the better production. The purchasers must be able to 

 appreciate the better article, and in order to do this the school of 

 art must give the general public a chance of being able to form 

 appreciative instincts. Between the manufacturer and craftsman 



