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The Visual Arts Data Service: The AHDS Centre for Visual Arts (VADS) is delighted to announce the launch of www.fineart.ac.uk, a new online resource of art works selected from the Council for National Academic Awards Collection (CNAA), and from the collections of some of the UK’s finest art colleges and universities. This new web-based collection is dedicated to work by staff, students and other alumnus of UK higher education institutions that have made a significant contribution to higher education fine art practice. The site makes available online an initial selection of 200 works by more than 100 artists who have studied and taught fine art in the UK, together with supporting information. The selection of works covers the period from the mid 19th century through to the present day and includes work from many important figures in British Art such as Henry Moore, Bridget Riley and Richard Hamilton. The main purposes of fineart.ac.uk are to: - celebrate the achievements of art education in the UK - provide a resource for teaching and learning - encourage scholarship and research - offer a framework for an historical picture of the developments in the field - provide access to inaccessible and otherwise hidden collections - serve as a living collection incorporating contemporary practice The site has been developed following a feasibility study commissioned by the CNAA Trustees, with the support of the Conference for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) and the National Association of Fine Art Education into the demand for a national collection to represent the nature, history and achievements of higher education teaching within fine art practice. Work on the project has been carried out by VADS located at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, University College. Ten higher education institutes have participated in this initial phase of the website’s developments and include: Glasgow School of Art, the London Institute, Norwich School of Art, Royal College of Art, the Slade School of Fine Art and the Universities of Central England, Brighton, Dundee, Leeds and Ulster. Visit the site at http://fineart.ac.uk Brenda Brinkley User Services Officer Visual Arts Data Service The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College Falkner Road Farnham Surrey GU9 7DS Tel: 01252 892723 Fax: 01252 892725 Email: [log in to unmask]