Executive Master in Cultural Leadership

Established along with the Academy in 1768 to serve the needs of its members and Schools students, the RA Library is the oldest institutional fine arts library in the United Kingdom. It has significant collections of books and other material relating to British art and the history of the Royal Academy, its Academicians, Schools, exhibitions and collections since the mid-18th century.

The five Fine Rooms in Burlington House date back to the early 18th century. They include the Saloon, which boasts a six-metre-wide ceiling painting by William Kent; and the Reynolds Room, where in 1858 Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace first presented their ground-breaking ideas on evolution, later made famous by Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.

New for 2018, the lecture theatre builds on the RA’s heritage of rigorous and lively debate. This magnificent double-height space, with over 250 seats, allows us to share our artists and scholars with the world. Original clerestory windows provide a spectacular day-lit space, brought to life with a continuous programme of events including lectures, debates, film screenings and concerts.

This historic room with its ornate domed plaster ceiling was the main Representatives Room when 6 Burlington Gardens was home to The British Academy from the 1920s onwards. Located in Burlington Gardens, the room was designed by Edwardian architect Arnold Mitchell in 1929 and carefully restored as part of the RA250 redevelopment of the Royal Academy. Supported by the Wolfson Foundation, the British Academy Room now serves as a dedicated home for RA Academic Programmes and is the ideal space for small-group and peer-based learning.

The Burlington House Main Galleries have hosted blockbuster exhibitions for over 100 years, including the annual Summer Exhibition and recent successes like David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture, Ai Weiwei, Painting the Modern Garden and Charles I. The Sackler Wing of Galleries gives us the space to explore artists like Richard Diebenkorn and Giovanni Battista Moroni, while new galleries in Burlington Gardens present works from our Collection, by RA Schools students and contemporary Academicians.

Our club room in the Keeper’s House began life in 1883 as an architectural gallery, before becoming the favourite haunt of the Academy’s artists as a private members club. The room has now entered a new phase in its rich history, with a fresh look by the renowned Martin Brudnizki Design Studio. Students on the Executive Master receive membership of the Academicians’ Room for the duration of their studies.

The School of Business and Economics includes state-of-the-art spaces specially designed for postgraduate studies. There is a student lounge with 30 computer places in the basement, two rooms each with 41 computers for educational activities or free use and a Learning and Resource Centre with 33 computers, all designed to facilitate research and analysis.

Registered students can use the University Library, which is located close to the School. The UL is accessible seven days a week and is open until midnight during exam weeks. It contains a constantly updated collection of over 500,000 books, mostly international volumes. It provides workstations for up to 840 people, audio-visual units and language training areas. Remote access to all electronic academic content is important, especially for the part-time executive EMACL students. Electronic databases, documents and journals and links to important internet sites can be accessed from home through a VPN link.

Situated in the heart of Europe, UM Campus Brussels aims to function as a Maastricht University establishment in Brussels where individuals and groups can work, meet colleagues, exchange experiences, and organise events. Students on the Executive Master in Cultural Leadership will study their Art law module at the UM Campus Brussels.