Slade Methods Room

Welcome to the Slade Methods Room website

The Slade Methods Room stems from two long-standing research projects in Graduate Painting: the Material Research Project, directed by Jo Volley, Coordinator Material Research Project & Network, from its inception in 2010 to the present day, and Lecturer Gary Woodley from 2010 to 2019; and the Discourse Project from 2014 to the present, directed by Professor Estelle Thompson. Both Research Projects were initiated with support from Professor Emerita Lisa Milroy, former Head of Graduate Painting.

The origins of the Material Research Project and Discourse Project derive from the Slade’s ‘Tech Workshops’, which ran in the 2000s led by Gary Woodley, Jo Volley and the late Professor Edward Allington, former Head of Graduate Sculpture. When Lisa began to work at the Slade in 2009 in her then role as Head of Graduate Painting, she felt it vital to address the subject of materiality and craft in relation to other critical perspectives in painting. This outlook wholeheartedly met the research interests of Jo, Gary and Estelle, each artist deeply engaged in exploring materiality in their own approach to drawing and painting. The academic team in Graduate Painting moved forward to set up the “Methods Room”, a dedicated materials-related space within the Graduate Painting studios. Jo and Gary initiated the Material Research Project and a few years later Estelle further enriched Graduate Painting’s research culture by identifying a new strand of research, exploring the nature of painting from a conceptual outlook, which led to the Discourse Project. The two projects evolved not only from the academic team’s research interests as practising artists but drew from the pedagogic approaches and values that defined the Graduate Painting programme at the time. Both projects have engaged an Honorary Research Fellow (HRF) on an annual basis, offering the HRF opportunities to explore relevant aspects of their own research in tandem with Slade staff and students, and contribute to the research culture in Graduate Painting and the School.

In 2014 Graduate Painting posted the Slade Methods Room (Online) on the Slade’s website as a virtual digital counterpart to the permanent physical site of the Methods Room, which was first established in Studio 2 in Graduate Painting and in Room 4 at Woburn when Graduate Painting relocated to Woburn Square in September 2018. The Methods Room is currently located in the lower ground level at Woburn Square.

As a visitor to this research-based website, we hope you will enjoy perusing the Slade Methods Room where you may discover useful practical methodologies, stimulating critical perspectives, imaginative creative energy and a fount of inspiration.