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The stimulating results of a Fine Art Forum, organised by fineart.ac.uk, have recently been published online for the benefit of the Visual Arts HE/FE and Research communities. The Forum brought together, into a studio space, a number of art practitioners/teachers in order to debate some of the key issues arising from the teaching of Fine Art practice in the contemporary educational environment. The Forum was a collaborative project between AHDS Visual Arts, the CNAA Art Collection Trust and the University of East London. "...there is too little debate and discussion about what goes on in the art school.." William Furlong The discussions took place over the course of one day, and were recorded digitally. We are now pleased to announce the publication of the full transcript, downloadable from http://fineart.ac.uk/forum/ . In the document, a number of contemporary practicising artists/teachers discuss and debate their own experiences and views of teaching and studying Fine Art, in the presence of an invited audience of artists, teachers, academics and students of fine art. The Forum was chaired by the audio artist William Furlong, and participating artists included Richard Wilson, Gavin Turk, Mark Hampson, Susan Stockwell, Tamiko O'Brien and Shezad Dawood. As well as the full edited transcript, there are also video and audio clips on the website, alongside selected extracts and quotes. "art schools have become pretty conservative spaces whereas once they were the last bastion of maverick thinking...." Mark Hampson The Fineart.ac.uk website was created (by AHDS Visual Arts) to celebrate the history and achievements of Britain's art schools. As well as publishing this transcript and other contextual pieces, essays, interviews and critiques, the site is home to a digital collection of art objects drawn from a group of 10 art schools and includes the significant CNAA collection. In its initial phase of development fineart.ac.uk covers a period from the mid 19th century through to contemporary practice and includes a wide range of media. The resource provides a showcase for the excellence of UK higher education in fine art and provides access to primary sources of importance to researchers that might otherwise remain hidden, disconnected or inaccessible. The National Collection contains some 250 paintings, sculptures, movies, prints and drawings by more than 150 artist-practitioners who studied or taught at degree (or equivalent) level in schools of art over more than a century. The website incorporates a rich body of information to support research and scholarship and will continue to be developed over coming years. Please go to http://fineart.ac.uk to explore the collection. ---------------- Polly Christie Projects Manager AHDS Visual Arts University College for the Creative Arts at Farnham Falkner Road Farnham Surrey GU9 7DS T: 01252 892807 E: [log in to unmask] http://visualarts.ahds.ac.uk http://fineart.ac.uk