Sidney Cooper Arts Trust
 
The Sidney Cooper Arts Trust (Charity No. 1215959) was established in 2025 to celebrate the legacy of Canterbury-born Thomas Sidney Cooper RA, who rose from poverty to become one of the foremost landscape artists of the Victorian period and a committed philanthropist in the city of his birth.
 
In 1868, Cooper founded the Sidney Cooper School of Art in the centre of Canterbury to help young artists have the start in life that he did not. He bequeathed the School and building to the city in 1882 and it operated for over 100 years on the site before being absorbed into the nearby University for the Creative Arts. 
 
 A central ambition of the Trust is to secure the future of this historic building, currently closed, as an arts centre for the city of Canterbury.  
 
Alongside this, we are committed to ensuring that Cooper’s legacy remains visible, relevant and accessible to new generations. We have recently published a book on Sidney Cooper’s life and work by Dr Darren Henley, Canterbury resident and Cooper expert, called ‘Separated, but not Divorced - The Artistic Life and Times’ of Thomas Sidney Cooper. It is available from The Beaney Museum Canterbury (which houses a collection of paintings by Sidney Cooper)and from Waterstones in Canterbury.

The Trust is also working with The Beaney Museum in Canterbury, Cooper’s descendants, the University for the Creative Arts and others to bring together Cooper’s scattered archive.

The Trust is supported by a Board and Advisory Group of Canterbury stakeholders with broad expertise which ensures both strong governance and a community-led approach to celebrating Cooper‘s legacy and revitalising the original art school building. (The Sidney Cooper Research Group,  formed in 2023,  is now part of the Trust and the legacy of its work is now part of the Trust's assets.)
 
For more info, contact us on info@sidneycooperarts.org.
www.sidneycooperarts.org 
https://www.instagram.com/sidneycooperartstrust/

Sidney Cooper Arts Trust

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Sidney Cooper Arts Trust

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