About

The Glasgow School of Art was founded over 160 years ago and is one of the oldest Art and Design institutions in the UK. We hold almost 5000 individual items in our collections, plus circa 100 deposited archive collections and 25,000 items in the GSA institutional archive.

The majority of collections are in physical form including furniture, works on paper, sculpture, textiles, plaster casts, ceramics and metalwork, with a small amount of additional born digital material. We also hold 280 works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh that form a Museums Galleries Scotland “Recognised Collection” of national significance.

Many of the items that were acquired as teaching tools during the School’s lifetime are now held in our Archives and Collections, including plaster casts, ceramics and metalwork, along with a wide range of artworks, architectural drawings, design work and archive material relating to former students and staff, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh. We strive to reflect GSA’s continually evolving teaching practices by continuing to collect student work each year.

We hold a comprehensive institutional archive featuring a wealth of GSA related documentation, including correspondence, photographs, ephemera, student records, minute books and reports, all of which provide an insight into GSA’s people, buildings and activities.

The GSA Archives and Collections are open to all researchers including the School’s staff and students, and external visitors including members of the general public. If you would like to arrange a visit then please review this relevant information. We look forward to welcoming you to our Archives and Collections.

We also have an enquiry service, where you can email your enquiry to us at archives@gsa.ac.uk. We can undertake up to 45 minutes research on your behalf and aim to get back to you within 20 working days.

To find out more about who we are and what we do, please watch our introductory video.

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO…

Please note: We would like to make you aware that amongst our holdings there may be historical images, or descriptions containing outdated language, which may be perceived as controversial and potentially offensive. Please also note that some material may not be suitable for children.

GSA does not endorse or condone any ideologies or behaviours that may be associated with or that emerge from said works. Nevertheless, we believe that understanding past perceptions is of fundamental importance in experiencing historical material.

We are undertaking work to address how to appropriately present this type of material to a diverse audience. Should you wish to contact us in the meantime, please email us at archives@gsa.ac.uk.