French Chaucer and Belgian Milton, Tudor, France and Lace: The Murals at Long Eaton

Among the earliest mural decorations of modern British schools were those created for the new Long Eaton Higher Elementary School in Derbyshire shortly after it had opened in late October 1910. The moment and place were propitious. For they saw the coming together of representatives of a new (and future) generation of educationists, teachers, architects and artists: Michael Sadler, Samuel and Alec Clegg, George Widdows, Roger Bissière and Rosa Vaerwijck. It was hardly coincidence that in 1911 and 1912 Patrick Geddes held School Decoration exhibitions in Edinburgh and London, the years in which the state schools of the Scottish and English capitals gained their first murals. Renamed Long Eaton County Secondary School in 1913 and in 1945 Long Eaton Grammar School, it was as the latter, in 1948, just as a bright new wave of the decorated school was taking hold across Britain, that the institution's murals were 'obliterated'.

Sadler and Clegg senior loved art and were to realise the benefits it may bring to education in distinct ways. Clegg junior, a pupil at the school, later recalled:
The County Secondary School at Long Eaton in Derbyshire where my father was the first headmaster set my standards. Its corridors and classrooms were panelled, and above the panelling in... [one] classroom were beautifully painted friezes of the Chaucer Tales. There was also a Milton room, a French room, a room with paintings of local lace factories. Copies of famous works of art in facsimile frames made in the school woodwork room were hung in the corridors and classrooms and showcases in the hall were used for the display of Greek coins and Japanese netsuke, and other small articles of beauty... I never recall any abuse of the school walls by the pupils.
(Alec Clegg, About our Schools, 1980, 120-121)
Sadler's 1905 report recommending the creation of the school noted that drawing should be emphasised in the education provided, not least 'for the benefit of future lace designers... since the staple trade of the area was lace.' This coincided with Clegg's belief, elaborated in his 1918 book 'Drawing and Design', 'in art as the means of providing a first class education for the child, a means which blends enjoyment and profit as no other can do.' (R. Hough, Long Eaton Grammar School Jubilee Book, 1960).

The online Belgian Artists Dictionary Illustrated (Nobel) has an entry for Rosa Pauwaert (née Vaerwijck), 1887-1966, an artist from Ghent, which reads: 'Durant la Première Guerre Mondialle, elle séjourne à Londres et y enseigne à l'Ecole des Beaux Arts de Long Eaton. Y réalise également des peintures murales.' The online resources that I've looked at for the renowned Roger Bissière (1886-1964), don't mention what is surely his work at Long Eaton, but do note that having completed his art studies in 1911 he travelled to England.

Without so far having visited the school or trawled any archives I can only report secondhand, using the 1960 fiftieth jubilee book, on the Long Eaton 'Ecole des Beaux Arts/County Secondary School':

'1914 brought refugees from Beligum... Mlle Vaerwyck, later Mme Pauwaert, joined the staff...[She] was a fine artist and with Miss Nowell she painted the murals which remained showpieces of the school until 1948. Room 5 was so decorated as to be known as the Milton Room; Room 4 was the Tudor Room; Room 3 was decorated with French landscape and was the French Room; while local trade was honoured in Room 7, which became the Lace Room. This mural decoration of classrooms was an expression of Mr. Clegg's ideas about presenting art to children incidentally, as part of their environment. In 1911 when a French artist, M. Bissiere had been on the staff for a short time as Art Master, Mr. Clegg had seized the opportunity to persuade him to paint a mural of the Canterbury Pilgrims in Room 6. It was from this painting that the room became known as the Chaucer Room; and the murals of Mlle. Vaerwyck were an extension of this mural decoration... ' (R. Hough, 25)

and

'... if the first impact of war robbed us of our masters, its second effect was no doubt the arrival of Belgian refugees. And with them came that remarkable lady, Mlle. Rosa Vaerwyck, later known as Mme. Pauwaert. Under her guidance the art room became a favourite place in the school, and as she moved so quietly and gently from one pupil to another she not only told us what to do, but showed us how it should be done. One of the first things we did together was a large poster of Santa Claus in all his scarlet splendour, appealing for help for the refugees: one of our first works to be 'hung' - this time in Long Eaton market place! Her later contributions included the beautiful murals in the Milton Room and Tudor Room, now alas! obliterated.' (J. Dawson Hooley [Canon Hooley of Sheffield Cathedral], 1914-1919)

Perhaps someone knows of colour images of the decorated rooms at Long Eaton? It would be superb to see them. As yet I have just been able to find the black and white images herewith of the Chaucer and French Rooms. Nothing of the others. Yet even these morsels are full of intrigue and signs... of educational ideas, of style, perhaps of a coming together of French & Belgian Art Nouveau with English Arts & Crafts, of a predecessor to James Selbie's ceramic mural of the Canterbury Tales at the Waid Academy which I've written/posted/talked about before... I want to go further with them... To see more clearly, for instance, how literature, history, culture, trade and art are being presented... And I'd like to convincingly place (or indeed have someone place) the murals within the artistic development of Bissière and Vaerwyck...

Apparently the part of the school which the murals are/were in has been sold off relatively recently. Who knows, perhaps the murals could be recovered. If the owners knew that they have one of the earliest Bissière's under their noses and layers of paint, they may well be induced to restore it... I'd like to see them all - to get an idea of Clegg's concept, a concept that was so critical for his son Alec when he later (1945-74) was to be Chief Education Officer of the West Riding of Yorkshire.... A concept realised at the birth of the new decorated school movement in Britain.

I am grateful to John Simpson for the photographs of the murals from the Long Eaton Grammar School-Reunited website: www.legsreunited.org.uk

Vusumuzi Maduna, Martin Luther King and a School in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The 'Artist's Statement' by Vusumuzi Maduna (1940-2007) is currently attached to a wall of a relatively newly created teachers' room that partially blocks the view of his sculpture mural in the Martin Luther King School built by the modernist architect Josep Louis Sert, 1970-72. The cuboid room has been inserted into the foyer of the school in the place where, originally, a plant or small tree was placed, benefitting from the clerestory lighting of the space. The statement reads:

'There is an ongoing need to explore new ways to communicate and celebrate the African American experience - our conscious and unconscious African legacy, and the intimate bond with Caribbean and Native American cultures. I was greatly honored to receive my African name, Vusumuzi, from a group of South Africans since it affirms that, beyond the recognition I have received throughout the Americas, my vision has been understood and praised by those from a part of the globe I am trying to communicate with and about. Translated as 'builder of culture', Vusumuzi refers to the person you call if your village is decimated, and in whose care the ancestral bones are placed. The artistic identity and cultural role is my lifetime commitment.'

Vusumuzi's sculpture is a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr and commemorates key events in his struggle for civil rights as well as his funeral. It is made of plastic, perforated sheet metal and metal mesh. It uses colour and form symbolically. It is large (forty feet long, nineteen high and projecting in places to three feet) and assertive. Details concerning it can be found on the Cambridge Public Art website at http://www2.cambridgema.gov/cac/public_art_tour/map_09_01.html.

Folk connected with the Decorated School Research Network were shown the sculpture during our April Conference in Boston. Lillian Hsu, Director of Public Art and Exhibitions for Cambridge Arts Council, together with a School Liaison Officer, explained to us the problems of dealing with the work some forty years after its creation. Not only is it being obscured from view by the boxy rooms to its side but also by a fence on which has been painted 'happy' panels of botanic, marine and human harmony under a smiling sun. The height of this fence means many of the smaller children will miss the violence and funeral of the King memorial as they pass through. The school is about to close down temporarily and be totally refurbished. Questions remain about what to do with Vusumuzi's vision.

I'm very grateful to Lillian and the school officials who made our visit possible. When I've time I'll try to write up further impressions of the Conference (which was superb - thanks to Roy Kozlovsky for its organisation). I might also add a piece about the 'Further the Dream' mural outside the King School and some other artwork there. Suffice it to say now that the second mural can be read about on the school's website at: http://www.cpsd.us/MLK/mural.cfm. I note that the work was co-directed by David Fichter, who in the eighties was painting murals in Nicaraguan schools...

Fife Africana and a little bit more... Elmwood and Kilrymont

The Times Educational Supplement of 5 January 1968 had two photographs of a new school built in St Andrews, Fife. The caption read: 'At the new Kilrymonth School at St. Andrews, the rock climbing class in action in the gym and a detail of the metal mural decorations in the school's assembly hall.' The pagoda-inspired assembly hall block of the new Kilrymont School (Madras College) officially opened three days later. The local press gave the six banner-like murals several column inches. One report read:

The art staff began last Easter the task of building up six murals 2ft. 9in. wide and 22ft. 6in. high, in the assembly hall. The murals represent the culture of three continents. The two outside panels represent the Aztec culture of South America in the period of about 1600. The design is dominated by the sacrificial axes. The two centre panels represent Northern European culture around the ninth century and the inner panels represent African culture about the beginning of this century. The principal material used is copper, supplemented by brass and aluminium. The artificial stones set into the designs are of resin and coloured foil. A large part of the design of the African sections is formed by sapele wood which is indigenous to West Africa.
The panels were the idea of Mr Ian Stewart [architect of the school], a member of Fife county architect's department. He said: 'I had an idea what I wanted: I was after something barbaric. I discussed my ideas with the art staff and this is what they produced. I am more than satisfied'. The four members of staff who undertook the work were Mr Angus Scott, principal art master, Mr Donald Chisholm and Mr Arthur Edward and his wife Eleanor. Mr Scott said: 'Mr Stewart gave us more or less a free hand with the design and we put in 900 hours, not counting design time. We did all the work ourselves except that the pupils gave us some help with the preparation and the polishing of the materials.'
Fife Education Committee last month approved an ex gratia payment of £400 to the four teachers for their work on the murals, the money 'to be divided according to assessment of work done by each teacher'.


David Galloway, a former rector of the school, has noted in the Madras College archive that Scott, having spent time in Africa, created the African parts, Chisholm the 'Norse imagery' and the Edwards 'concerned themselves with South America and Asia'... He also suggests that the idea for the imagery was 'sparked off' by The Daily Express, which was apparently then running series of supplements on the arts of different cultures from around the world but that the artists were given complete freedom to design what they wished.

As the school building faces a very uncertain future, and hence the mural as well, the latter should be seen as a remarkable piece of its time, in keeping with the fifties-sixties movement for decorating schools in Scotland (and England) that I've written about already, and, in turn, being connected with the contemporary movement for 'motivational' and 'arresting' public art that artists such as Alasdair Gray were then vigorously moving forward [see Gray's book 'Lanark' and his mural work in Glasgow]. In fact, as one specialist in African art has told me:


'Your school [Kilrymont] is a blast. Homi Bhaba gives one total license. Is there some kind of Belgian Art Nouveau connection? On the third banner from the left, on the bottom, there is an extremely stylized interpretation of a Kota-speaking peoples' reliquary (Gabon). Every modernist coverted one of these and Picasso had several (poor quality). They are covered with brass and sometimes copper (as shown in the face). The hairstyle is unmistakable. But the artist has invented a dancer's body. Perhaps he imagined that it was some kind of mask instead of the decorative head for a reliquary basket? [JH - perhaps he was thinking of his school setting...] On the right hand group of three banners, on the left-most banner, there is a stool supported by a female caryatid figure with raised hands. This is clearly a highly stylized interpretation of a Luba stool (Democratic Republic of Congo/then Belgian Congo).... '


Angus Scott, the artist of these 'African' figures and a popular art teacher, died after suffering a brain haemorrhage, aged 45, in November 1970, just three years after completing the Kilrymont mural. May the mural survive as his tribute...

Five years after the Kilrymont mural was created the new Elmwood Agricultural and Technical College in Cupar, Fife, opened, this having an association with the St Andrews school through a day-release scheme. The brochure produced for the opening noted:
'Once in the building, the entrance foyer is given interest... by the mural sculpture in cast and wrought aluminium, signifying man's struggle with and eventual domination of his environment.'

The sculpture is no longer there. In 2003 it was moved upstairs to the library. A caption near it indicates that it is by Robert Sneddon and was commissioned by 'Fife County Council architect Jack Cowieson. The budget for the project was around £600. The theme of the sculpture is 'Organisation out of Chaos' with a subtheme of sowing and reaping... The background of the sower is designed in the shape of Africa, while the background of the reaper is furrow marks made by a plough.'

I have found nothing on Sneddon, nor any photographs of his sculptures in their original setting. I'd be very grateful for any information.

These artworks at Elmwood and Kilrymont connect with the contemporary educational architecture and culture of their time. More so than the Walter Scott (and his staghounds) 
sculpture near the big redwood in the Elmwood grounds, or the 'Reflections of St Andrews' mural on the first floor landing at Kilrymont (by Susan Lerski and Craig Amy, 1995), which speak more 'realistically' of local and national heritage. All, however, speak of an aspiration to have art move and inspire youth during its institutionalised time of learning... And give food for further reflection...

Hundertwasser in Wittenberg and Lira/Illanes in Warisata: The Breadth of the Decorated School Cause

There is a lot to be said for bringing together and exploring comparatively the visual language of two highly distinctive, celebrated decorated schools from different parts of the world, different periods and ostensibly different ideologies.

We could begin by contemplating the new Luther Melanchthon Gymnasium in Wittenberg, Germany (1997-1999) and the Escuela-ayllu Warisata between La Paz and Lake Titicaca, Bolivia (1931-41) for the Aymara community.

For now, I just mention that the unfinished murals at Warisata (by Alejandro Mario Illanes), along with the community they served, were destroyed while the carved relief entrances (by Manol Fuentes Lira) survived. The school is currently being reinvented as an indigenous university. The Wittenberg Gymnasium is also a reinvention, it being designed (perhaps as an anti-rationalist statement) around a functionalist DDR school type in accordance with Friedensreich Hundertwasser's plans.

I reproduce here some images and for the time being would simply mention that it would seem consideration of the schools' distinct histories and visual vocabularies could reap great rewards in terms of the aesthetics, function, place and definition of the decorated school.

Boston Conference

Defining the Decorated School:

A Little History, A Few Functions

2nd April 2012
Northeastern University College of Arts, Media and Design
Boston, MA

Please click here for further information.

Greenside Primary Gordon Cullen mural 1952

Greenside Primary School (see Friday, 28 October 2011) today celebrated the Diamond Anniversary of the very day of its official opening by Dame Sybil Thorndike. A new film was shown to the assembled school of art historian Alan Powers describing and explaining the Gordon Cullen mural with a clarity accessible to children and adults alike. Throughout the year groups children have been studying the school architecture and its mural. The Cullen painting provides a distinguished and very special feature of school identity for pupils, teachers, parents and local community. Its content also presents vivid images reflecting life at the time of the school’s post-war rebuilding. Thus it serves as both a totem and as a unique teaching resource intimately connected with the school’s own history.

An elegant 60^th birthday display effectively reinforces these functions of the school mural.

Canadian schools

Terry Murray has contacted us with news of her own blog based in Canada where she has found some extraordinary decorated schools.

http://terrymurray.blogspot.com/2010/12/south-high-school-denver.html