Leicester School of Art was founded in 1870 and underwent several name changes over the next 122 years before it became De Montfort University in 1992. One of these was in 1929, when it became the Leicester College of Arts and Crafts and the Leicester College of Technology. The Arts College taught architecture, building crafts, furniture making, printing, book production, metalworking, dress design, weaving, drawing and painting. Meanwhile, the College of Technology offered education in boot and shoe manufacture, hosiery and textiles, chemistry, dyeing, pharmacy, physics, mathematics, engineering, office management, and scientific information for trades such as grocery, butchery, bakery and confectionery.

Known locally as the ‘Art and Tech’, the Colleges provided vital vocational and practical education to the people of Leicester until 1969, when they became Leicester Polytechnic. Their organisational structure featured a separate headmaster for each College but shared facilities, resources and administration. Students were encouraged to take relevant courses from the other College; for example, a footwear design student at the Art College might take a module on shoe construction at the Technology College. Marketing materials from the Art and Tech era play on the dual nature of the Colleges, with student magazine names like Duo and Gemini, and matching prospectus designs. The 1958-59 prospectus is the most striking of these: the complementary figures of art and science are shown in mirrored poses, Art holding a palette and brushes, Technology holding a mechanical gear. Unfortunately the names of the artist and/or graphic designer are not recorded, but they were likely to have been staff of the College which had a School of Printing and Graphic Design.

The original prospectus can be viewed at DMU Special Collections which holds the institutional archive (reference DM/A/076). See https://library.dmu.ac.uk/specialcollections for more information.

Leicester School of Art was founded in 1870 and underwent several name changes over the next 122 years before it became De Montfort University in 1992. One of these was in 1929, when it became the Leicester College of Arts and Crafts and the Leicester College of Technology. The Arts College taught architecture, building crafts, furniture making, printing, book production, metalworking, dress design, weaving, drawing and painting. Meanwhile, the College of Technology offered education in boot and shoe manufacture, hosiery and textiles, chemistry, dyeing, pharmacy, physics, mathematics, engineering, office management, and scientific information for trades such as grocery, butchery, bakery and confectionery.

Known locally as the ‘Art and Tech’, the Colleges provided vital vocational and practical education to the people of Leicester until 1969, when they became Leicester Polytechnic. Their organisational structure featured a separate headmaster for each College but shared facilities, resources and administration. Students were encouraged to take relevant courses from the other College; for example, a footwear design student at the Art College might take a module on shoe construction at the Technology College. Marketing materials from the Art and Tech era play on the dual nature of the Colleges, with student magazine names like Duo and Gemini, and matching prospectus designs. The 1958-59 prospectus is the most striking of these: the complementary figures of art and science are shown in mirrored poses, Art holding a palette and brushes, Technology holding a mechanical gear. Unfortunately the names of the artist and/or graphic designer are not recorded, but they were likely to have been staff of the College which had a School of Printing and Graphic Design.

The original prospectus can be viewed at DMU Special Collections which holds the institutional archive (reference DM/A/076). See https://library.dmu.ac.uk/specialcollections for more information.