Our history
The Charity’s origins date back to the middle of the nineteenth century with the founding of the Female School of Art in 1842, which continued as a teaching institution until 1909.  Although it enjoyed the patronage of Queen Victoria from 1861, it did not gain the right to entitle itself the Royal Female School of Art until 1885.  

The school was established with the aim of educating young women in the arts and allowing them to gain “honourable and profitable employment”. Whilst the school was later subject to a merger, its ethos is continued by the RFSA Foundation and its Trustees, who are custodians of the school’s historic funds and assets.

Initially a sub-division of the Government School of Design (founded in 1837), the Female School opened classes for girls and young women in 1842, with the focus on providing training in design for economically-disadvantaged students, including through the provision of scholarships and other support for such students, a tradition which the Royal Female School of Art Foundation embraces today. During its first two decades, the Female School assumed a more independent identity, until it became self-governing, as the Female School of Art, in 1860. 

The Foundation’s ability to maintain this tradition is largely due to the determination and hard work of the young women who took advantage of the opportunities offered by public financial support in the 1850s and 1860s, and to their commitment to creating greater opportunity for women to find work in the Victorian art world.  

​See the links for more detail of our history and information about the individuals at the Female School of Art.

Life drawing class at the the school

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​The 1840s: The Female School of Design
The 1850s: The Female School of Art at Gower Street
1860-1909: The Royal Female School of Art