‘Art School Studios: Three Vignettes’ is an expanded introductory essay to the book ‘What is a studio, anyway?’. It forms part of a project conceived by editors Furnell and Hawes to interview artists, designers, curators, art students, academics and other arts professionals about the role Higher Education has had in defining the artist’s studio. The illustrated essay explores the art school studio as a vital space where ‘students have experimented, conceptualised their art and realised their aspirations.’

Prompted by teaching in a post-pandemic context, ‘Art School Studios’ foregrounds reflective creative practice and historical archival research to evaluate the studio as a site of transformation. Drawing from the writings of O’Donnell (2016) and Thom (2017), the essay shows how a ‘philosophical imperative’ might be explored as a pedagogical model. Interdisciplinary and nomadic methodologies are promoted to challenge hidebound forms of studio practice that remain prevalent in arts and design education today.

Methods are drawn from historiography and autobiography forming a narrative that combines a creative writing approach with academic research conducted in London-based art schools’ archives (e.g., Royal College of Art, Slade School of Art, and University of the Arts London) and personal collections. Structured into three vignettes, the essay incorporates familial memories of the artist’s studio whilst growing up in Texas and later academic experiences of studios in UK art schools. Important studio examples that reinforce an integral relationship between studio environments and learning experiences include Slade School’s Victorian drawing studio and the University of Texas’s Second Life virtual design studio.

The essay concludes that the art school studio is not in danger of eradication, despite the pressures of contemporary political and economic contexts. Rather, it remains a site of transformation, playing a crucial role by fostering experimentation, encouraging self-critique, and promoting speculation.