The Prince's School of Traditional Arts


The Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts is a school in London which teaches students at the postgraduate degree level, and short open courses and in the community.
The school was founded in 2005 by the Prince of Wales as part of The Prince's Charities group, with the aim "to continue the living traditions of the world's sacred and traditional art forms".

Philosophy

The School is believed to be unique among art schools: although there are many theoretical programmes in western universities at graduate and postgraduate level, there are no colleges apart from the School where the practical skills of the Islamic and traditional arts are taught at this level.
The School strives to preserve global traditional arts and traditions under threat of extinction.

Building

Based in the fashionable and artistic area of Shoreditch, an average of 25 students work permanently on site, numbers increasing with students studying PhDs and open courses.

History

The School was originally established as the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Programme at the Royal College of Art in 1984. It was the brainchild of Keith Critchlow, the Professor Emeritus at the School, who is also the author of several books on Sacred Geometry.
The Programme transferred to The Prince of Wales' Institute of Architecture in 1993 which subsequently became incorporated into The Prince's Foundation in 2000. The School was initiated as a separate charity of Charles, Prince of Wales in April 2004.
In 2018, the School became a part of the Prince's Foundation, merging with The Prince's Foundation for Building Community, The Prince's Regeneration Trust, The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust.
In 2018, works created by The Prince's School and two other charities founded by Prince Charles were put on display during the Prince & Patron exhibition to mark his 70th birthday.

Postgraduate degrees

Three postgraduate degrees are offered by the school: a Master of Arts, a Master of Philosophy degree and Doctor of Philosophy in arts practice research in the traditional arts. All degrees are awarded by University of Wales Trinity Saint David.