Reading University

John Madejski Art Gallery as it is now called was built originally in 1893 as a typical Victorian art gallery affiliated with Oxford University. It received its Royal Charter, entitling it to operate as an independent institution, conferring its own degrees and diplomas in 1926. Following a generous grant from local businessman and philanthropist John Madejski, Reading Art Gallery was extensively refurbished in 1999 and renamed after its benefactor. A museum and art gallery with esoteric tastes it has a major collection of Ladybird Books. Production began during World War I and continued until 1998. The collection covers all the subject matter that children adored, comprising 700 boxes of original artwork, proofs and some documentation from the 1940's to the 1990's. Examples of the work of notable artists such as Charles Tunnicliffe, Rowland Hilder and Allen Seaby are represented.

In 1955 the Reading Technical College was opened. This was renamed the Reading College of Technology in 1967 and the Reading College of Arts and Technology during the 1970’s. Owing to a merger with the Berkshire College of Art located in Maidenhead, it became the Reading College and School of Arts & Design in 1997. It was again taken over and became part of Thames Valley University in 2004.

The university's roots began in the Reading School of Art, established in 1860 which was thus the founding school of the present University. Furthermore, the university has over the years provided several teachers and students who have either exhibited in the gallery or who have work in the permanent collection. These include Terry Frost, Claude Rogers and Turner Prize nominees Mike Nelson, Cornelia Parker and Richard Wilson. Also represented are Elizabeth Blackadder, Henry Matthew Brock, Victoria Crowe, Joy Finzi, Eric Kennington, Frank Ormrod, John Piper, Walter Sickert, Stanley Spencer and sculptor John Tweed.