Each year we choose a general theme, from which the ideas and inspiration for the courses are drawn. This enables us to refresh our teaching constantly, providing different perspectives each year on the subjects and concepts studied. It provides a common ground between all the full and part-time courses, generating a unity of thought and purpose throughout the work done in the School.

Our theme for the 2007/2008 is "Ruin and Regeneration"

Havoc, wreckage, devastation - awakening, resurgence, enrichment. “Ruin and Regeneration” as the theme this year evokes a state of flux; new growth emerging out of decay. In recent years the Leith Docks area has enjoyed a renaissance. The change is reminiscent of cycles of ruin and regeneration throughout history. This has been reflected in art through the ages and artists have responded in their individual ways. Rembrandt’s self-portraits documented a regeneration of the inner life, the soul, while physically ageing, the Barbizon painters like Millet conveyed a new archetype in the working man. The Dadaists protested against the ruin of WW1 confronting society with a re-evaluation of its principles with the irrational and ironic, while Picasso continually sought a new visual language to confront and regenerate society’s self-image. In Germany Beckman strove to find the regenerative hidden spiritual dimension in disquiet and darkness. The American artist Barnett Newman’s ‘zip paintings’  encapsulate destructive and creative forces. In Spain Tàpies and Muňoz have used mundane materials in their environment to depict the intangible in matter; while British artist John Walker pounds, moulds and shapes paint into emotional metaphors. These and many other artists over the generations have depicted life’s cycle through a creative process of ruin and regeneration.