WORK from staff and students of the Colchester School of Art will make up the first exhibition at the newly reopened Minories.

The show, which is due to open to the public on June 23, will be celebrating the school of art's heyday during the 1950s and 1960s, and as such will consist of a number of pieces from students and tutors who were there at the time.

Among them will be Ian Hay and Mick Smee, who were both students and teachers at the school, and as part of the exhibition will be submitting art from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as contemporary pieces.

Other artists' works include those by Richard Chopping, Hugh Cronyn and John Nash.

Colchester Institute's School of Art, Design and Media moved into the historic building in the High Street last month, with a vision to create a space to celebrate local art as well as provide a home for local artists to work and study.

While the ground floor is being set aside for exhibition space, the first floor is already in use as studio space, with the old ballroom being allocated as a possible space for a lecture theatre, which it is hoped will also be used for evening classes in art appreciation.

The building, which is owned by the Victor Batte-Lay Trust, was formerly occupied by Firstsite, who are about to move into the new multi-million pound art gallery on its doorstep.

l The Colchester School of Art: 1950s and 1960s is at the Minories, High Street, Colchester, from June 23.