Central Saint Martins is one of the world’s leading centres for art and design education, a reputation based around the achievements of its graduates and the creative energy of its current staff and students.This forward-looking approach places Central Saint Martins at the heart of London’s dynamic creative scene. All of our courses have strong links with practice and industry through visiting lectures, live projects and tutors who are leading practitioners. Central Saint Martins was formed from the merger of two historical art and design colleges, St Martin’s School of Art and Central School of Arts & Crafts.Founded in 1854, St Martin's School of Art focused on fine art and fashion. The Central School of Arts & Crafts was founded in 1896 and focused on a wide range of design disciplines including theatre, industrial and graphic design.Both colleges delivered innovative art and design education, from experiments in studio based teaching to the introduction of Basic Design in the 1950s and the birth of contextual art in the 1960s and 1970s.