Established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design, and occupying a basement in the Manchester Royal Institution on Mosley Street, the school was renamed Manchester School of Art in 1853. In 1880, the school moved to a new building on Cavendish Street and was renamed the Municipal School of Art. In 1978, the school merged with Manchester Polytechnic and since 1992 has been a school within the Manchester Metropolitan University.