Manchester Academy of Fine Arts

The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) was founded in 1859 by artists eager to promote art and education: organising annual open exhibitions, talks and workshops held at Manchester Art Gallery (formerly known as the Manchester Institution). The Academy celebrated its 150th anniversary with a series of exhibitions and a service at Manchester Cathedral in November 2009.

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts
Formation1859
TypeLearned Society
PurposePromotion of Art and Artists
HeadquartersManchester, United Kingdom
Location
Activities
Exhibitions, Workshops
Collections
Archives
President (24th)
Malcolm Taylor PS RBA
Websitewww.mafa.org.uk

Exhibitions and Workshops

The Academy organises annual open exhibitions, talks and workshops held at venues across Greater Manchester and throughout North West England, including at Bury Art Museum, Gallery Oldham, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, and Dean Clough, Halifax.

Membership

Artists from diverse backgrounds are elected members of MAFA. Currently, the Academy has a membership of over a hundred professional artists working in a variety of disciplines, including painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and ceramics, and exhibiting not only in North West England but throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

Academy members have played a significant role in the Manchester art scene for over a century, including the design of several of its buildings and public works. Members have included Alfred Waterhouse (architect of Manchester Town Hall), Ford Madox Brown, LS Lowry, Käthe Schuftan, Norman Adams and Anne Redpath. Past presidents have included the artists William Knight Keeling and Robert Crozier.[1] Annie Swynnerton and Emma Magnus were some of the first pioneering women to be elected in 1884. The work of John Cassidy, the first sculptor member, can be seen in Manchester city centre.

Manchester School of Art

The Academy supports graduate students at Manchester School of Art, now part of Manchester Metropolitan University, by awarding annual prizes and offering the opportunity to show work in Academy exhibitions. Although no formal training is necessary, a link with Manchester Metropolitan University has existed since the Academy's foundation: past and present members have taught and studied there. Some have studied elsewhere under recognised artists: Margaret Pilkington was taught by Lucien Pissarro at the Slade, Harry Rutherford studied under Walter Sickert and John McCombs was taught by Leon Kossoff at St Martin's School of Art.

Presidents

References
  1. "History of Mafa: Past Presidents" Archived 2016-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, Manchester Academy of Fine Arts website, accessed 11 November 2009
  • Davies, Peter (1989), A Northern School, Bristol: Redcliffe Press.
  • Davies, Peter (2015), A Northern School Revisited, Clark Art Ltd.
  • Dewsbury, Sheila, and Adams, A.C., The Story So Far: The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, 1859–2003.
  • Wyke, Terry (2004), Public Sculpture in Greater Manchester, Liverpool University Press.
  • Manchester Academt of Fine Arts, Archive.
  • Marks, Diana F. (2006), Children's Book Award Handbook, Libraries Unlimited (Chapter 6 on Randolph Caldecott and the Randolph Caldecott Medal).
  • Nairne, Sandy and Howgate, Sarah (15 March 2006), The Portrait Now, Yale University Press.
  • Thomson, Susan W. (2007), Manchester's Victorian Art Scene and its Unrecognised Artists, Manchester Art Press.
  • Buckman, David (17 September 2003), "Tom Titherington: Obituary", The Independent.
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