Royal Academy of Arts to that drawn up by Cheere in 1755. It was Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect and head of the British government's architects' department, the Office of Works, who used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support for the Academy in 1768. The painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president, and Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788. The instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts collection in a building next to the Supreme Court of Canada and the first curator, John W. H. Watts, RCA was appointed to begin organizing exhibitions. The third objective—to encourage the teaching of art and design in Canada—was found to be more challenging to address with the limited financial resources available to them. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was elected as an associate, became a full member and later became president of the Academy. The centennial year of the Academy was honoured by a 35 cent, 3 colour postage stamp. The stamp features an image of the original centre block