Edinburgh College of Art
In 1906 the Scotch Education Department approved a major reorganisation of Edinburgh higher art education, which at that time was provided by the Trustees Academy School of Art, Heriot-Watt College, and the Royal Scottish Academy. Under the new scheme. art teaching would be combined in one college which would serve as a Central Institution for the south-east of Scotland. In 1907 the functions of the Trustees Academy School of Art were taken over by the Provisional Committee responsible for Edinburgh College of Art, which opened in the following year. The College buildings at Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, opened in stages from January 1909. The College was originally owned by the Corporation of Edinburgh, and the Town Council served as Governors of the College. The administration of the College was entrusted to a Board of Management of 19 members. In 1960 the College transferred its administration and government to a Board of Governors which comprised representatives of the City Council, professional, commercial and trade associations, and parties with academic and educational interests.
The work of Edinburgh College of Art was originally divided into four Schools: Drawing and Painting, Design and Crafts, Architecture and Sculpture. In 1909 Edinburgh College of Art was authorised by the Scotch Education Department to award Diplomas in all of these areas. In 1935, a Diploma for Town and Country Planning was introduced.
Edinburgh College of Art has enjoyed close academic links with other Edinburgh higher education institutions since in 1945 when a joint course in Fine Art was established in association with the University of Edinburgh. In 1968 a formal link was established with Heriot-Watt University with the creation of the joint Faculty of Environmental Studies. This expanded in 1974 to include a separate School of Landscape Architecture. In 1986 the College established a second joint faculty, of Art and Design, with Heriot-Watt University.
In 2011, Edinburgh College of Art merged with the University of Edinburgh and was reconstituted as a school of the same name within the College of Humanities and Social Science. The newly enlarged School of Arts incorporated subject areas previously contained within the School of Arts, Culture and Environment.