A History of the F. M. Courtis Art Collection: A Teaching Collection on a Rural Teacher Education Campus

Following the Second World War, UNESCO and the British writer and art critic Sir Herbert Read had a major influence on the direction of art education. Through their instigation the organisation, The International Society for Education Through Art, and national and regional groups such as the British Society for Education Through Art, the United States Society for Education Through Art, the Canadian Society for Education Through Art and, for Australia and the Asia Pacific region, the South East Pacific InSEA were formed. In Australia Read's seminal text, Education through Art, had a major impact on art education in post-war teachers' colleges. This was driven by the perceived need for collections of original art works in the colleges for the education of pre-service teachers, particularly in the country. These valuable collections of predominantly Australian art became central not only to teaching programs but also to the identity and heritage of the colleges. Over the half century of its development in Bendigo, there has been no scholarship to record the history of the F. M. Courtis Collection, or its role in teacher education, or the contributions made by students, lecturers, artists and philanthropists. This history has importance in terms of its focus on a rural teachers' college. In planning for the future of the collection, a clear picture of the original context for its development in relation to the Western history of teaching collections and the contemporary trends and theories of art education was required. The future planning was taking place in the critical context described as a "crisis" by scholars in Britain, USA and Europe who were concerned about the lasting security of university collections as a result of world economic factors in the first decade of this century. This book be Dr. Penelope Collet, senior lecturer at LaTrobe University and curator of the F. M. Courtis Art Collection, takes an innovative approach to reporting on the research journey. In Australia, no other history of the development of an art collection used for teacher, a widespread practice in colleges, has been compiled in this depth. The recognition by the researcher, that mid twentieth century assumptions about the rationale for art education and daily contact with original artworks by students could not be left unchallenged, has led to careful reflection about the research process. Not only does this book provide a history of a collection in a rural institution but it also charts the development of art education approaches post-war. At the same time, it sets out to re-examine the research processes adopted. This is an important book for scholars, collection managers and college alumni interested in the growing field of university cultural heritage. Art educators in the West will value the in-depth coverage of approaches provided. In particular in Australia, there is a large community of schoolteachers and college lecturers whose personal and teaching lives were deeply enriched by collections such as the F. M. Courtis Art Collection.