This year, the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts [SMSA] celebrated its 183rd birthday. Why has it survived? This presentation will outline the School’s early history and highlight the responses it made to the challenges it faced. In 1987, the SMSA sold its original building built in 1836 and moved into rented accommodation until it found a new permanent home. Since that time the School has been involved in an ongoing process of re-invention, repositioning, and realignment in order to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of its members and the wider community.
Dr Roger K Morris AM, President, Association of Mechanics’ Institutes and Schools of Arts of NSW [AMISA]
Presentation (PDF):
