This article is about the non-profit organisation. For the building that formerly housed the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts and known as the Arthouse Hotel, see Sydney School of Arts building.
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, pictured in 2022
The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA) is the longest running School of Arts (also known as a "Mechanics' Institute") and the oldest continuous lending library in Australia.[2]
Founded in 1833, the school counted many of the colony's educated elite as members. It quickly positioned itself as a centre for social change and intellectual life of the city of Sydney with a program of public lectures, courses, lending library and other activities based on its mission of adult education. Now in new premises, the SMSA continues to offer public education programs and grants today. In 2011, the SMSA opened The Tom Keneally Centre, which holds the research collection of world-renowned author Thomas Keneally from his private collection and memorabilia.[3]
By the early 1830s, Sydney Town had come a long way from its origins as a convict colony four decades earlier and free settlers were increasing in numbers. John Dunmore Lang wished to build an Australian College in Sydney and sent Henry Carmichael to recruit craftsmen in Scotland. On the return journey in 1831 aboard the Stirling Castle Carmichael gave classes to some of these men. They formed the nucleus of a Mechanics' Institute when they arrived in Sydney.[5]
Mechanics' Institutes were a recent phenomenon – the first one had been set up in Scotland in 1821 – and their aim was the intellectual improvement of their members, through the diffusion of scientific and other useful knowledge, and the cultivation of literature, science and art.[6] While it still had some 21,000 convicts, the free and freed population of Sydney was growing, and assisted immigration was helping to create a new society. The establishment of a legislative council to advise the Governor of New South Wales brought responsible government a step closer. Businessmen with a social conscience set up "civilising" institutions such as the Savings Bank of NSW in 1832. The following year the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts was founded after a meeting on 22 March between Carmichael with Surveyor-General Major Thomas Mitchell and Dr Charles Nicholson who "...resolved to found an institution similar to those established in England by Dr. Bricbeck, Dr. Ure, and other distinguished promoters of popular education."[7]
The aim was to pursue further education for working men through public lectures and classes, and the establishment of a library. The colonial administration of Governor Richard Bourke soon recognised the efforts of the School of Arts and provided a land grant and a small annual subsidy to support its work. In 1836, aided by various philanthropists, the school was able to lease vacant land at 275 Pitt Street, and the inaugural lecture was given on 4 April 1837 by Carmichael, followed by a chemistry demonstration by Nicholson.[8]
A certain Literary Society or Institution was established in Sydney in the year 1833 under the name and style of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, the objects being the intellectual improvement of its members and the cultivation of literature, science and art.
Under the leadership of such men as Carmichael and Nicholson, Mitchell, engineer Norman Selfe, and businessman Thomas Barker (who had been elected to the council of the Australian College in 1831) the school flourished and became one of the leading providers of adult education in the colony with more than 1500 students attending lectures and classes. Among those who gave classes were artist and teacher Joseph Fowles, suffragist Louisa Lawson, explorer Ludwig Leichhardt and poet Henry Kendall, and subjects included art, mathematics, architecture, anatomy and simple surgery. Officers and teachers of the school, such as Nicholson and Dr John Woolley, also played a role in the establishment of the University of Sydney. The school was originally incorporated under its own Act of Parliament in 1874 with the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts Incorporation Act. This was later replaced by an Act of the same name in 1886 that allowed greater financial freedom to the school's governing committee (namely the ability to borrow money and sell school assets) and amended in 1929 and 1940 to allow, respectively, the sale of the land granted by Governor Bourke and a reduction in size of the committee.[4]
By the 1870s, some in the SMSA felt that the institution was drifting from its original purpose of educating the working class of Sydney and so proposed the expansion of its scope into technical education, and formed the Technical and Working Men's College.[9]
The college was built at the rear of the Pitt Street buildings on newly acquired land that extended back to George Street, and included a new hall, laboratories, classrooms, offices and a yard area. The college breathed new life into the SMSA, with courses on practical learning attracting workers back to the School. College enrolments rose from 720 in the first year to 1198 in the second, and continued to increase over subsequent years. However lack of space was a perennial problem and college courses were soon being held in other rooms and buildings around the city. In addition, limited funding hampered further increases in the program, and in 1883 the New South Wales government took over the college, transforming it into the basis of a new technical college, which became the foundation for the Sydney Technical College. This continued to operate from the SMSA building and other rented properties in the city until it moved to the purpose-built technical college at Harris Street in Ultimo in 1891 which in turn became the University of Technology Sydney in 1988. The buildings are now used as the main campus of the Sydney Institute of TAFE, part of the State Government-run Technical and Further Education [TAFE] college system.[citation needed]
The original role of such Mechanic's Institutes was to provide education for adults who had received little formal education as children. Thus most of the Schools of Arts and Institutes had libraries attached, and in NSW the government provided grants for the purchase of books. But over the years, as the colonial (and later State) governments began to take greater responsibility for public education, this meant the end of most of these philanthropic organisations – a process that sped up when local councils also began to provide free public library facilities. By the 1970s, the SMSA was in financial difficulty with a large heritage building to maintain but a declining membership.[2] It eventually sold its original building to raise capital in 1987 and moved into new premises across the road in 2000.
In February 1837 the SMSA moved into their new building in Pitt Street. Although it had been established in 1833, it had no premises. The initial meetings were held in rooms around the city, firstly in the Australian College, and from 1834 until 1837 in rooms allocated in the house formerly occupied by Superintendent of Police Captain Francis Rossi at "Church Hill" in the Rocks district, which were provided by the Governor until the School could obtain a site for a permanent home.[10] In January 1836 a lease was secured for a vacant site in Pitt Street adjacent to the CongregationalistIndependent chapel, which had been designed by John Verge and opened in 1830.[5] Tenders were called for in The Sydney Herald to erect a Mechanics' School of Arts building in March 1836[11] and the building was completed in time for the SMSA Annual General meeting on 6 February 1837.
In January 1845, an advertisement appeared in the newly retitled Sydney Morning Herald advising the public that the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts building was for sale.[12] The sale was proposed to fund the relocation of the school to a new site to allow for the construction of a larger building. It appears, however, that there was a change of heart, for the Committee of the SMSA purchased the building and the leasehold of the property itself, and began planning extensions on the site.
The façade of the original SMSA building, pictured in 1869
The need for extra space was a constant concern for the SMSA. In 1852 a petition was presented to the Legislative Council seeking permission for the SMSA to sell or swap a parcel of land set aside for it in George Street South for the purpose of purchasing a site in a more central location.[13] With the funds available the SMSA Committee was able to move quickly when the neighbouring building, the Independent Chapel, was put on the market on 7 January 1855. Purchasing this site gave the School the opportunity to double the size of its building without having to relocate.[5] With this in mind, a public appeal for donations to fund proposed works was advertised in newspapers from 1856.[14]
Library Reading Room, 275 Pitt Street, Sydney, ca. 1925, by Sam Hood
Work began in earnest in early 1860 which joined the two formerly separate buildings of the old SMSA and the Independent Chapel into one frontage. Internally the walls of the older buildings and many of the internal spaces were retained and adapted. The new façade was designed in a Palladian style with late Georgian features such as Corinthian columns on the upper level, round fanlights with keystones, corbelled cornice and interlocking circles with a central panel inscribed "Sydney School of Arts", all of which are still visible.[10] With the building works completed, but with a £2000 debt, classes continued. Ongoing repairs and alterations, such as new skylights to the reading room, lining of walls and ceilings and other works, contributed to costs for the School.[15]
The new building served the SMSA well, providing more room for concerts and performances, larger reading rooms and reference library as well as updated facilities including new overhead gas lighting. Already "one of the most prosperous institutions in the colony...", the renovations made it even more attractive and were expected to "...bring about an increase in its membership."[7] Excavations were also proposed for the installation of an electric motor to power the School's lighting. However, after the government took over the Technical and Working Men's College and then stopped leasing the SMSA hall for the new Sydney Technical College at the beginning of 1888, the loss of income to the School meant that this work did not proceed.[16] A continuing downturn in income saw further changes made to the SMSA building in a bid to improve finances. Between 1891 and 1894 the rents received by the SMSA fell from £1670 to £439 per annum. The decision to build shops into the front of the building was taken and in 1895–96 three shops were added to the ground floor in what had been the library and committee room provided much-needed revenue for the SMSA which was otherwise in decline.[17] With falling cash reserves, by the early 1980s the SMSA found it increasingly difficult to maintain the building and began to consider selling the site.[18][19]
New premises
The main bar of the new Arthouse hotel, 2009
With the future of the building at stake, the New South Wales Heritage Office placed a Permanent Conservation Order on the building in 1985. In 1987 the school sold the Sydney School of Arts building at 275 Pitt Street to Alan Bond's Bondcorp who proposed to gut the building, retaining only the façade, and convert the remainder into a monorail station with a tower behind as part of the "Park Plaza" Project. The SMSA would be allowed to remain on site in a condensed form. Before any work could begin, Bondcorp went bankrupt and the mortgage was taken up by a Japanese construction company Kumagai Gumi.
In 1988 the SMSA moved out of its original home to Town Hall House, the first of a series of temporary homes over the next 12 years.[20] Negotiations continued over the future of the building with a sale finally secured in 1996 to the Japanese consortium Kumagai/Sogo. The funds from the sale allowed the SMSA to purchase in 1996 Lincoln House across the road at 280 Pitt Street – a 10-storey brick building with street-level retail premises and nine commercial office levels.[21] In March 2000 the SMSA moved in and occupied the first three floors of the building.
In the meantime the Sydney School of Arts building underwent a transformation. As part of the Galeries Victoria development, the former SMSA building was restored and repaired. Many of the original features of the reading rooms, library, halls and Independent Chapel were retained in the new pub called the "Arthouse Hotel" which now occupied the site.[22] The new managers included courses in drawing, photography and art as part of their program, continuing a link with the cultural and educational programs that had been a focus of the SMSA.[10] In 1999 the building was added to the NSW State Heritage Register.[5]
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a technical institution can be traced back to the 1870s. UTS is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network (ATN), and is a member of Universities Australia (UA) and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).
Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts, were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men in Victorian-era Britain and its colonies. They were often funded by local industrialists on the grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and skilled employees. The mechanics' institutes often included libraries for the adult working class, and were said to provide them with an alternative pastime to gambling and drinking in pubs.
Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's Central railway station. Pitt Street is well known for the pedestrian only retail centre of Pitt Street Mall, a section of the street which runs from King Street to Market Street.
North Sydney Boys High School is a government-funded, single-sex, academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Crows Nest, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In 2023, North Sydney Boys High School sat as the first ranking high school in the state of NSW, based on the percentage of exams sat that achieved a Distinguished Achievers (DA), overtaking the first ranked James Ruse Agricultural High School, sending JRAHS to the second rank for the first time since 1996, and establishing itself as a contender to the previously established reign of James Ruse Agricultural High School.
TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory body under the TAFE Commission Act 1990. The Minister for Regional Development, Skills and Small Business is responsible for TAFE NSW.
The Sydney Technical College, now part of TAFE NSW, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education institutions.
The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in Darlinghurst, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts practice across various disciplines.
Davidson High School (DHS) is a school in Frenchs Forest, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on Mimosa Street. It is a co-educational high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education with students from years 7 to 12. The school was established in 1972 as a result of the growing population in the Frenchs Forest and Belrose areas and is located on a site bounded by heritage-listed remnant bushland.
Henry "Harry" Ebenezer Budden was a Sulman Award winning Australian architect active in the first 40 years of the 20th century. His work encompassed the styles of the Federation Arts and Crafts and Bungalow through to the Inter-War Stripped Classical and Art Deco. He was a leader of his profession and in the wider community, serving as the first Australian War Chest Commissioner during World War I.
Mowbray House is a heritage-listed historic building that was an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located in Chatswood, on the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. More recently, it was part of an Ausgrid depot site. The school buildings included a chapel that is now the Holy Trinity Anglican Church. The building is listed on the local government heritage register.
Alfred Gambier Newman was an Australian architect active in the first 20 years of the 20th century. He designed significant work for both the Methodist Church and the Newman and Vickery families.
Lord Livingstone "Livie" Ramsay was an Australian architect active in the first quarter of the 20th century. He was known professionally as L L Ramsay. His work encompassed the styles of the Federation Bungalow in domestic design and Federation Free Classical in civic and commercial design. He was active in local government and was President of Hornsby Shire.
George Allen Mansfield was a prominent Australian architect of the nineteenth century who designed many iconic buildings in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Norman Selfe was an Australian engineer, naval architect, inventor, urban planner and outspoken advocate of technical education. After emigrating to Sydney with his family from England as a boy he became an apprentice engineer, following his father's trade. Selfe designed many bridges, docks, boats, and much precision machinery for the city. He also introduced new refrigeration, hydraulic, electrical and transport systems. For these achievements he received international acclaim during his lifetime. Decades before the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built, the city came close to building a Selfe-designed steel cantilever bridge across the harbour after he won the second public competition for a bridge design.
Cremorne Girls High School, is a former high school located on Murdoch Street in the Sydney suburb of Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia. It was a girls high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education with students from years 7 to 12. The school was first established in 1927 as Neutral Bay Girls Intermediate High School. However, due to declining enrolments the school was declared surplus to the needs of the department and officially closed in 1987. The school and its heritage-listed buildings are now a satellite campus of Redlands.
The Sydney School of Arts building, now the Arthouse Hotel, is a heritage-listed meeting place, restaurant and bar, and former mechanics' institute, located at 275–277a Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by John Verge and built from 1830 to 1861. It is also known as Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
George Newton Kenworthy FRAIA, also known as G. N. Kenworthy or "Kennie", was a leading Sydney architect and Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects best associated for his work in partnership with Henry Eli White and for his building designs in the Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, Functionalist and Spanish Mission styles.
Crows Nest Boys High School is a former high school located at 365 Pacific Highway in the Sydney suburb of Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia. It was a boys' high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education with students from years 7 to 12. The school was first established in 1883 as St Leonards North Public School. However, the school was declared surplus to the needs of the department and officially closed in 1992. The school and its heritage-listed buildings are now the campus of North Sydney Girls High School.
Mechanics' institutes were a Victorian-era institution set up primarily to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working-class men, which spread to the corners of the English-speaking world, including the Australian colonies, where they were set up in virtually every colony. In some places, notably throughout the colonies of Queensland and New South Wales, they were often known as schools of arts.
Joseph Fowles was an Australian artist and educator, perhaps best remembered for his publication "Sydney in 1848", a series of etchings depicting Sydney’s streets and buildings in that year.
References
↑ "Our History". smsa.org.au. Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
