The University of Northampton’s art collections are located within the School of The Arts at the University’s Avenue Campus. These include a small number of oil paintings alongside the renowned Osborne Robinson poster collection. The School of The Arts has a rich history that dates back over 120 years. The then School of Art moved to its current purpose-built premises in 1937, merging in 1975 with Northampton colleges of Education and Technology to form a college of higher education, Nene College. This became University College Northampton in 1999 and gained full university status as The University of Northampton in 2005. The paintings are mainly commissioned portraits of significant figures from the School’s history, but also include the Grosvenor Centre Mural by Thomas Osborne Robinson (OBE). Originally commissioned for the Grosvenor shopping centre in Northampton, the mural depicts scenes from the history of Northampton and was presented to the University on indefinite loan following the centre’s refurbishment in 1999.