A lament for the loss of our family home

The family home of the Hastings arts community has finally closed its doors after a last stunning annual show. We think the Art College building, and everything that it stood for, should not be buried without a eulogy. People of all backgrounds and ages came and went, came back to try another medium or take a top-up degree. The lead staff had built up the place together, fought off bureaucratic interference and kept up an amazing standard in this small town. Some of the staff had come in as mature students, and not only had their lives and horizons transformed by art but ended up with a livelihood. The  rambling buildings, with their easygoing car park, access for people and materials, open spaces for chilling out or trying an outsize, wet or dirty installation, and the incredibly various internal spaces and habitats, had everything an art college needed. And it had heart as well. A floor of the high-rise block at Station Plaza doesn’t begin to replace it, and some key tutors have not made the move. It really is the end of an era.

Richard De Pesando responds:

I think you have been getting a little over emotional about the closure of
the old Art College. Yes — it was a lovely old building and a very creative
space. But it was getting very hard to overlook its limitations and
failings, many of the facilities didn’t really stand up to much scrutiny and
for the last year I’ve constantly been apologising to visitors and
prospective students at the state of some of the studios. If you looked past
the work on the walls, it was a tired old lady who needed more than a bit of
warpaint and touching up.

The new build, despite what some of us may have feared, is looking fantastic
already — while Archery Road may have felt like a traditional old style
college like Camberwell,  Station Plaza 4th floor has a feel of the Royal
College of Art or the old St Martins Building on Long Acre. It’s easy to see
it as sterile without students but now that we are moving in and getting
ready for next year, we are all pretty excited. The two key members of
staff who have left have retired, but we are likely to see them again as
part time tutors. Their replacements will be as committed and engaged as they
were — and for the first time, I will be able to offer my students their own
desk in their studio, 5 days a week without having to shunt them in and out
where I can fit them. What really appeals to me is that each department has
a proper ‘home’ now — but everyone is aware whats happening, it’s far more
transparent and every student gets to appreciate and be inspired by the
other departments.

The new build means that we can compete with Brighton and the more high
profile courses and move art and design education right up the agenda. We
are also looking forward to a new principal next year and other exciting
developments that would not have been possible where we were.

Don’t forget — we now have the best view on the South Coast.

Richard de Pesando, Course Leader
FDA Graphic Communication, SCCH

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