Boys studying art were delighted to see that our sculpture studio had undergone a major refurbishment over the summer.  

Thanks to the generosity of Old Bedfordian Gilbert Lloyd (50-58), the old studio, which is located close to the Quarry Theatre, benefited from a major overhaul, opening the studio up to create a bright and airy space with a wonderful, tranquil ambience. With two picture windows looking out onto the Quarry Gardens, we hope the new studio will be an inspiration to all those boys doing sculpture.

The sculpture studio is one of three specialist studios in the art department – the others being a painting and printmaking studio; these allow the boys to be a taught by a specialist teacher in each particular area. All boys doing art rotate between the three areas and for the Sixth Form artists there will now be the additional option to do MIG Welding.

James Nicholl, Teacher of Sculpture said, “The transformation of the studio over the summer is unbelievable. Light is absolutely integral to the sculpting process and the bright, wide open space of new studio offers the boys the room to sculpt, construct and cast work of a larger and more ambitious scale. The Sixth Form spaces stand up to those of any higher education art school and the addition of a workshop space with metal and wood working equipment provides the boys with opportunities to gain skills that, in the old space, were not safely viable. This new, more cohesive space has been a joy to teach in; the functional archival shelf system in place streamlines the storage of work and the overall design of the work space makes it a superb learning environment. I am incredibly privileged to teach in this space and I am immensely grateful to Gilbert Llyod for his generosity and to all those involved in helping this project become a reality.”

Gilbert Lloyd has been a long-time supporter of the school, and generously first donated to the school back in 2008 when the Gilbert Lloyd lectures were introduced. Following the opening of the Gilbert Lloyd gallery at the entrance to the Art School in 2018, a plaque was unveiled by Gilbert and his wife Elfie.

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