the wallpaper, the building, the furniture, the article of dress, the
vase, the print, the household article, is the work of the designer. It
is cheaper to experiment on paper than in material.
With the accumulated wealth of the people comes the desire to
indulge in the joy of the aesthetic—of what use is increased leisure if
not for such an indulgence? Comes then an appreciation and desire to
possess works of art—pictures, mural decorations, statuary, fine
furniture, pottery, the desire for a civic gallery to house works of
art.
Before the era of machinery, in the days of small production, we had
the artist-craftsman, and right well did he do his work. In those
days the would-be designer and artist served a long apprenticeship
in the workshop of the master artist-craftsman. No finer method of
teaching the young could be found, but since the introduction of
machinery and mass production some other way of training the
designer had to be found.
And so there came into being Schools of Design and of Fine Arts,
which have as their purpose the training of Designers and Artists to
minister to the utilitarian and cultural needs of a modern com-
munity. The curriculums of such Schools have to be carefully consid-
ered. There must be a just balance kept between the desires for the
fine arts and the needs of the community for commercial designers—
between the aesthetic and the utilitarian. Such a balance can be kept
only by a true realization of the basic subjects to be taught, by the
employment of instructors who are themselves producers and experi-
mentalists, and by keeping in close touch with the needs of commerce
and the spirit of the times.
Such are the aims and ideals of the Vancouver School of Decorative
and Applied Arts, and we go forward hopefully believing that we
fit naturally into the commercial and cultural development of a
great city.

CHARLES H. SCOTT.

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