{"id":14658,"date":"2021-04-06T09:58:50","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T23:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/?p=14658"},"modified":"2025-08-27T12:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T02:02:52","slug":"qca-140-years-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/2021\/04\/06\/qca-140-years-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland College of Art Celebrates 140 Years of Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year,\u00a0<\/span>Griffith University<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>celebrates 140 years of\u00a0<\/span>teaching<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>at the Queensland College of Art (QCA)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

QCA can trace its history back as far as 1849 as an informal drawing school\u00a0<\/span>but by February 1881 o<\/span>rganised\u00a0<\/span>formal\u00a0<\/span>teaching<\/span>\u00a0began a<\/span>t<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0then<\/span>\u00a0Brisbane School of Arts<\/span>;<\/span>\u00a0the school\u00a0was located\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0Ann Street<\/span>, in a\u00a0<\/span>building which was originally designed as servants<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0quarters<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This makes\u00a0<\/span>QCA\u00a0<\/span>one of Australia\u2019s oldest art<\/span>\u00a0training<\/span>\u00a0colleges.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>For\u00a0<\/span>several decades, QCA was an \u2018art department\u2019 as part of Queensland\u2019s Technical College system (think today\u2019s TAFE colleges<\/span>!<\/span>)<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>At the time of this merger<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the school<\/span>\u00a0became the largest\u00a0<\/span>teaching\u00a0<\/span>department<\/span>\u00a0of Queensland\u2019s Technical College system<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Black
Brisbane School of Arts established in 1849. Source: State Library of Queensland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By<\/span>\u00a01971, QCA became the \u2018College of Art\u2019 and an individual entity. This period<\/span>\u00a0saw QCA expand the courses it offered. For the first time, students could<\/span>\u00a0study Fine Art, Graphic De<\/span>sign, Printmaking, Ceramics, Gold and Silversmithing, Animation<\/span>, Film and Video.<\/span>\u00a0In 1976,\u00a0<\/span>QCA offered Queensland\u2019s first Diploma of Ar<\/span>ts course<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Three
Students in class (1976) when QCA was based at Morningside in Brisbane. Source: Griffith Archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 1980s saw dramatic changes to the<\/span>\u00a0tertiary education landscape in Australia<\/span>. As the decade\u00a0<\/span>ended<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>most of\u00a0<\/span>Australia<\/span>\u2019s art colleges had become part of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>universities.\u00a0<\/span>QCA would follow this trend\u00a0<\/span>and became<\/span>\u00a0an official<\/span>\u00a0part of\u00a0<\/span>Griffith U<\/span>niversity\u00a0<\/span>on<\/span>\u00a01<\/span>\u00a0January\u00a0<\/span>199<\/span>2<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today,\u00a0our\u00a0<\/span>College of Art<\/span><\/a>\u00a0offers<\/span>\u00a0one of<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>most extensive<\/span>\u00a0visual arts programs in the country and is home to the\u00a0<\/span>largest\u00a0<\/span>university<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>film school in Australia<\/span>\u2014Griffith Film School.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlock the history of our University via the\u00a0<\/span>Griffith Archive website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
A Griffith University student conducting a campus tour at the 2019 QCA Open Day. Source: Griffith Archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year,\u00a0Griffith University\u00a0celebrates 140 years of\u00a0teaching\u00a0at the Queensland College of Art (QCA).\u00a0\u00a0 QCA can trace its history back as far as 1849 as an informal drawing school\u00a0but by February 1881 organised\u00a0formal\u00a0teaching\u00a0began at\u00a0the\u00a0then\u00a0Brisbane School of Arts;\u00a0the school\u00a0was located\u00a0in\u00a0Ann Street, in a\u00a0building which was originally designed as servants\u2019\u00a0quarters.\u00a0 This makes\u00a0QCA\u00a0one of Australia\u2019s oldest art\u00a0training\u00a0colleges.\u00a0For\u00a0several decades, QCA wasContinue reading “Queensland College of Art Celebrates 140 Years of Teaching”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":18323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[162],"class_list":["post-14658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-griffith-archive","tag-general"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Vanessa Gatt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2021\/04\/20210406_QCA-Turns-140_Picture2-1000x0-c-default.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}