Drawing Together: The Bath Academy of Art at Corsham brings together artworks from Bath Spa University Collections, Chippenham Museum and The Young Gallery for the first time. Featuring painting, photography, print and sculpture, from artists including Gillian Ayres, William Scott and Walter Sickert, the exhibition explores teaching, learning, creative practice and everyday life at the Academy.

Founded in 1852 as the Bath School of Art, the institution relocated to Corsham Court in 1946 after its premises were damaged during the Second World War. The exhibition marks the 80th anniversary of this move, which transformed the small Wiltshire market town of Corsham into an important centre for art education and creative experimentation.

Artists, designers and teachers associated with the Academy helped shape post-war British art and art education, establishing a distinctive creative community. That community continues today, partly through Bath Spa University, which emerged from the Academy at Corsham. Yet the Academy’s presence across Bath and Wiltshire - and the region’s connections to many significant artistic figures of the twentieth century - remains relatively little known.

More than 40 Bath Spa University students have been involved with the project through bespoke workshops, discussions, interpretation and creative responses. Working as collaborators within the curatorial process, the students have brought new perspectives to the works of art, histories and ideas explored in the exhibition.

The exhibition will then evolve as it tours to Chippenham Museum and the Michael Pennie Gallery at Bath Spa University, with each venue presenting a different aspect of the Academy’s history and legacy.

Drawing Together: The Bath Academy of Art at Corsham is free to visit and no booking is required. It will be displayed in Gallery 2 at the Young Gallery from 11 September until 21 November 2026.