The Drawing Schools provide a stimulating and safe environment for all boys who wish to pursue art, whether they are studying it as a subject or not.
Boys freely explore the visual arts, with access to a wide range of traditional and contemporary techniques guided by teachers. Those who wish to take art as a leisure activity still work towards objectives and high standards, and receive the same advice as our examination candidates. Our main objective is to lay the foundations of a lifelong involvement for boys in the creative world of all expressive and visual mediums.
Our outreach programme allows students and teachers from other schools to share techniques and teaching materials. The Department has also produced a research document in conjunction with CIRL to encourage all forms of drawing, entitled Printmaking Towards Drawing.
Eton are making big investments in time, money and commitment to the visual arts.
Bob and Roberta Smith RA, BBC Radio 4
Facilities
The Drawing Schools has a large range of art activities on offer, such as painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, animation and computer graphics. There is also a well-stocked resource in the Gordon-Ives Memorial Library.
Pupils have regular access to the Drawing Schools in their spare time, including weekends and evenings, where they can develop their coursework, work on independent projects or join in with organised workshops.
Exhibitions
There are visiting shows in the main gallery. In recent times, exhibitions have featured major British artists both past and present, including Chila Kumari Singh Burman, John Schueler, Ben Nicholson, Julian Opie, Terry Frost, Anthony Frost and Barbara Hepworth. Two major exhibitions of boys’ work are showcased every year on St Andrew’s Day and the Fourth of June.
Artist in Residence Programme
In recent years, we have collaborated with alumnae from the Royal Academy Schools and Royal College of Art. Each year, we offer up to two promising students the option to be artists in residence. This enables the boys in the Drawing Schools at Eton to have an insight into what happens at the contemporary British Art College. Recent artists in residence include the very up-and-coming John Rainey, Alvin Ong, Liana Lang, Guler Ates and Katherine Jones RA.
