Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society of Arts, back of the building in London, England

The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) is a London-based, British organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges.^[1] Founded in 1754 by William Shipley as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, it was granted a Royal Charter in 1847,^[2] and the right to use the term Royal in its name by King Edward VII in 1908.^[3] The shorter version, The Royal Society of Arts and the related RSA acronym, are used more frequently than the full name.

Notable past fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, William Hogarth, John Diefenbaker, and Tim Berners-Lee. Today, the RSA has Fellows elected from 80 countries worldwide.

The RSA award three medals, the Albert Medal, the Benjamin Franklin Medal (following a decision by the Board in 2013, the Benjamin Franklin Medal is now overseen by the RSA US, although the final nomination is ratified by the UK Board) and the Bicentenary Medal. Medal winners include Nelson Mandela, Sir Frank Whittle, and Professor Stephen Hawking. The RSA members are innovative contributors to the human knowledge, as shown by the Oxford English Dictionary, which records the first use of the term "sustainability" in an environmental sense of the word in the RSA Journal in 1980.

Name and mission[edit]

Royal Society of Arts, front of the building

On the RSA building's frieze The Royal Society of Arts words (see photograph) are engraved, although its full name is Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The short name and the related R(oyal) S(ociety) of A(rts) abbreviation is used more frequently than the full name.

The RSA's mission expressed in the founding charter was to "embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve our manufacturers and extend our commerce", but also of the need to alleviate poverty and secure full employment. On its website, the RSA characterises itself as "an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges".

Leadership[edit]

The RSA's Patron is currently HM Elizabeth II, the RSA's President is HRH The Princess Royal (who replaced her father, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 2011), its Chairman is Vikki Heywood,^[4] and its Chief Executive is Matthew Taylor.

List of presidents[edit]

1755–1761: The Viscount Folkestone
1761–1793: The Lord Romney
1794–1815: The Duke of Norfolk
1816–1843: HRH The Duke of Sussex
1843–1861: HRH The Prince Consort
1862–1862: William Tooke
1863–1901: HRH The Prince of Wales
1901–1901: Sir Frederick Bramwell
1901–1910: HRH The Prince of Wales
1910–1910: The Lord Alverstone
1911–1942: HRH The Duke of Connaught
1942–1943: Sir Edward Crowe
1943–1945: E. F. Armstrong
1945–1947: The Viscount Bennett
1947–1952: The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh
1952–2011: HRH The Duke of Edinburgh^[5]
2011–present: HRH The Princess Royal

Fellowship[edit]

Prospective fellows can apply for membership (which is reviewed by a formal admissions panel);^[6] others are recommended to the Fellowship.^[7]^[8]^[9] There have been nearly 28,000 Fellows since 1754.^[6] Fellows must have demonstrated a high level of achievement related to the arts, manufactures and commerce and more recently, "share the values"^[10] of the RSA and be "committed to supporting the mission of the RSA".^[6] This change coincided with a rebranding of the RSA mission^[11] as a "21st century enlightenment" and its approach as "The Power to Create", which aims at broadening the RSA's impact through increasing its Fellowship. Life Fellows must have demonstrated exceptionally high achievement. The RSA says: "The RSA Fellowship is an international community [of] achievers and influencers from a wide array of backgrounds and professions, distinguished by the title 'FRSA'. Fellows are social entrepreneurs to scientists, community leaders to commercial innovators, artists and journalists to architects and engineers, and many more."^[12] Fellows of the RSA are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRSA. Fellowship is widely regarded as an honour and privilege.^[13]^[14]^[15]

Prizes[edit]

Originally modelled on the Dublin Society for improving Husbandry, Manufacturers and other Useful Arts, the RSA, from its foundation, offered prizes through a Premium Award Scheme that continued for 100 years. Medals and, in some cases, money were awarded to individuals who achieved success in published challenges within the categories of Agriculture, Polite Arts, Manufacture, Colonies and Trade, Chemistry and Mechanics. Successful submission included agricultural improvements in the cultivation of crops and reforestation, devising new forms of machinery, including an extendable ladder to aid firefighting that has remained in use relatively unchanged, and artistic skill, through submissions by young students, many of whom developed into famous artists i.e. Edwin Landseer who at the age of 10 was awarded a silver medal for his drawing of a dog.

The RSA originally specifically precluded premiums for patented solutions.^[16] Today the RSA continues to offer premiums.^[17]

In 1936, the RSA awarded the first distinctions of Royal Designers for Industry (RDI or HonRDI), reserved for "those very few who in the judgment of their peers have achieved 'sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry'".

In 1937 "The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry" was established as an association with the object of "furthering excellence in design and its application to industrial purposes": membership of the Faculty is automatic for (and exclusive to) all RDIs and HonRDIs. The Faculty currently has 120 Royal Designers (RDI) and 45 Honorary Royal Designers (non-UK citizens who are awarded the accolade of HonRDI): the number of designers who may hold the distinction of RDI at any one time is strictly limited.

The Faculty consists of the world’s leading practitioners from fields as disparate as engineering, furniture, fashion and textiles, graphics, theater and film design. Early members include Eric Gill, Enid Marx, Sir Frank Whittle and numerous other household names.

RSA House[edit]

Audio description of the building by Mathew Taylor

The RSA moved to its current home in 1774. The House, situated in John Adam Street, near the Strand in central London, had been purpose-designed by the Adam Brothers (James Adam and Robert Adam) as part of their innovative Adelphi scheme. The original building (6–8 John Adam Street) includes the Great Room, which features a magnificent sequence of paintings by Irish artist James Barry titled The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture and portraits of the Society's first and second presidents, painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds respectively.

The RSA has expanded into adjacent buildings, and now includes 2 and 4 John Adam Street and 18 Adam Street. The first occupant of 18 Adam Street was the Adelphi Tavern, which is mentioned in Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. The former private dining room of the Tavern contains a magnificent Adam ceiling with painted roundels by the school of Kauffman and Zucchi.

A major refurbishment in 2012 by Matthew Lloyd Architects won a RIBA London Award in 2013, and a RIBA English Heritage Award for Sustaining the Historic Environment, also in 2013.^[18]

The RSA devised a scheme for commemorating the links between famous people and buildings, by placing plaques on the walls — these continue today as "blue plaques" which have been administered by a range of government bodies. The first of these plaques was, in fact, of red terracotta erected outside a former residence of Lord Byron (since demolished). The Society erected 36 plaques until, in 1901, responsibility for them was transferred to the London County Council (which changed the colour of the plaques to the current blue) and, later, the Greater London Council (the G.L.C.) and, most recently, English Heritage. Similar schemes are now operated in all the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

Associated organisations[edit]

The origin of London's Royal Academy of Arts lies in an attempt in 1755 by members of the RSA (then simply known as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), principally the sculptor Henry Cheere, to found an autonomous academy of arts to teach painting and sculpture. Prior to this a number of artists were members of the RSA, including Cheere and William Hogarth, or were involved in small-scale private art academies, such as the St Martin's Lane Academy. Although Cheere's attempt failed, the eventual charter, called an 'Instrument', used to establish the Royal Academy of Arts over a decade later was almost identical to that drawn up by Cheere and the RSA in 1755.^[19] The RSA also hosted the first exhibition of contemporary art in 1760. Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds were among those who exhibited at this first exhibition, and were subsequently founder members of The Royal Academy of Arts in 1768.

The Society was a pioneer in examinations, offering the first national public examinations in 1882 that led to the formation of the RSA Examinations Board now included in the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Board.

In 1876, a predecessor of the Royal College of Music, the National Training School for Music, was founded by the RSA.^[20]

In 1929 The Society purchased the entire village of West Wycombe. After extensive repairs, the village was legally conveyed by deed to the National Trust.^{[citation needed]}

In 1936, the RSA awarded the first distinctions of Royal Designers for Industry (RDI or HonRDI), reserved for "those very few who in the judgment of their peers have achieved 'sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry'".

Activities[edit]

In Great Britain and Ireland, the RSA offers regional activities to encourage Fellows to address local topics of interest and to connect with other Fellows in their locality. The UK Regions are: London, Central, North, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales and, Ireland. The RSA has a presence around the world under its RSA Global scheme with a notable presence in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.^[10]

Events[edit]

The RSA's public events programme is a key part of its charitable mission to make world-changing ideas and debate freely available to all.^[21] Over 100 keynote lectures, panel discussions, debates, and documentary screenings are held each year, many of which are live-streamed over the web.^[22] Events are free and open to the public, and mp3 audio files^[23] and videos^[24] are made available on the RSA's website and YouTube page.^[25]

Renowned thinkers and doers have been invited to present their ideas on the RSA's stage ever since the society was founded in the 18th century "age of enlightenment". More recent speakers have included Sir Ken Robinson, Al Gore, Sir David Attenborough, Alain de Botton, Michael Sandel, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Martha Nussbaum, Desmond Tutu, Steven Pinker, Susan Cain, Dan Pink, Dan Ariely, Brene Brown, Slavoj Zizek, David Cameron, and Dambisa Moyo.^[26]

The choice of speaker for the recent annual Presidential lecture has been a matter of interest in the press.^[27] Danish professor Björn Lomborg, was chosen; his latest book, Cool It, suggests that the imminent demise of polar bears is a myth. As president of the RSA, Prince Philip's first choice of speaker was Ian Plimer, professor of mineral geology at Adelaide University, but this was rejected as too controversial, as Plimer argues that the theory of Anthropogenic Global Warming is unproven.

On 14 January 2010, the RSA in partnership with Arts Council England hosted a one-day conference in London called "State of the Arts".^[28] A number of speakers from various disciplines from art to government gathered to talk about the state of the arts industry in the United Kingdom. Notable speakers included Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport and his counterpart Ben Bradshaw MP, who was then the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport. Notably, Jeremy Hunt stated that if the Conservative party won the next elections then government funding for the arts would be cut.^[29]

RSA Animate (animation series)[edit]

Excerpts from the events programme form the basis for the 10-minute whiteboard animations as shown on the theRSAorg YouTube channel.^[30] The series was created as a way of making important, socially-beneficial ideas as accessible, clear, engaging and universal as possible.^[31] The series is produced and audio-edited at the RSA, and the animations are created by RSA Fellow Andrew Park at Cognitive Media.^[32]

The first 14 of these had gained 46 million views as of 2011,^[33] making it the no.1 nonprofit YouTube channel worldwide. The first animation in the RSA Animate series was based on Renata Salecl's speech delivered for RSA on her book about choice.

A number of celebrity fans have tweeted about RSA Animates, including Yoko Ono, Eric Schmidt and Milla Jovovich.^[34]

Projects[edit]

During the 1980s, the RSA worked with the Comino Foundation and established a Comino Fellowship Committee 'to change the cultural attitude to industry from one of lack of interest or dislike to one of concern and esteem'. This eventually led to a joint government/industry initiative to promote 1986 as "Industry Year",^[35]^[36] with the RSA and the Comino Foundation providing core funding of £250,000 – which persuaded the Confederation of British Industry to raise £1 million and government departments to provide £3 million.^[37]

In July 2008, the RSA became a sponsor of an academy in Tipton, The RSA Academy, which opened in September 2008. New buildings are currently under construction to designs by John McAslan and Partners. Current projects include Arts and Ecology, Citizen Power, Connected Communities, Design and Society, Education, Public Services, Social Brain, and Technology in a Cold Climate.^[38] There are seven schools in the RSA Family of Academies, all in the West Midlands, including The RSA Academy and Whitley Academy.^[39]

Past projects include delivering fresh drinking water to the developing world, rethinking intellectual property from first principles to produce a Charter (published as the Adelphi Charter), investigating schemes to manage international migration and exploring the feasibility of a UK-wide personal carbon trading system. It still promotes the practice of inclusive design, and is working with artists to communicate ideas about environmental sustainability (for example, through one of the RSA's past projects, WEEE Man, and currently through the Arts and Ecology project).