School of Art

At the end of Childers Street is the Art Deco inspired School of Art building. Opened in 1939 as Canberra's first purpose built secondary school, it operated as Canberra High School until 1968, when declining enrolment numbers and a lack of facilities resulted in the school moving to the Belconnen suburb of Macquarie.

Between 1968 and1976, the building had various uses, including as the Canberra Technical College Art School, Canberra Technical College Biological Science Centre (its proximity to the old Institute of Anatomy), as premises for the ACT Apprentices Board, the ACT School Authority Teaching Resources Centre, the ACT Scholarships Office and the Australian Pre-School Association.

In 1976, the Canberra School of Art separated from the Canberra Technical College, and took over the site from other tenants. In 1988 the School of Art and the Canberra School of Music (which has its own premises) amalgamated to form the Canberra Institute of the Arts, and they the first affiliated and in 1992 became part of the university to become the ANU Institute of the Arts. It's now called the ANU School of Art, and is part of the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences.

Click on the photo to see a larger version, and the clock tower above the main doors. Soon the trees will be in full leaf again and you won't be able to see the clock from this position.