The idea of an Art Academy in Lviv began over 100 years ago. The institution is considered a legal successor of the best traditions of art education initiated in Lviv which began when the city was the capital of the province of Galicia and Lodomeria under the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid 19th century. It has its origin in the school of design and drawing attached to the Museum of Artistic Craft, Free Academy of Art, O. Novakivskyi's Art School, and the Academy of Arts. Prominent artists as Ivan Trush, O. Kulchytska, O. Kurylas, A. Manastyrskyi, H. Smolskyi, S. Hordynskyi and many others studied and then taught at these art institutions. The foundation of the higher artistic educational institution in Lviv in 1946 was caused by an acute need of highly qualified specialists of fine art, applied and decorative art in Lviv. Hence at first the chairs of art textile, art ceramics, wood ware, sculpture and painting played the leading role. They were closely connected with the local traditions, folk art creation and at the same time they traditionally kept on accumulating the achievements of European art education and art. During next ten years the Lviv Academy essentially extended its educational propositions, it was enriched with a lot of new forms and trends of artists training admittedly meets the European standards. A large competition among entrants that come from different regions of Ukraine as well as from many foreign countries is a convincing confirmation of its high level. Among the educational innovations introduced by the Lviv Academy there are numerous specializations that correspond to modern requirements of entrants. The matter concerns the exclusive trends of graphic design, artistic means of advertisement, monumental painting, art metal, interior design, furniture design and new kinds of ceramics, art glass, art textile and others.
Transition to the Lviv Academy of Arts
In 1994 the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Art was converted into the Lviv Academy of Arts and in 2004 it received the status of a national educational institution for its significant contribution to the development of the national education and science, state and international activity by the resolution of the Ministry of Ukraine. In the structure of the Academy there are five departments, the Kosiv Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, the extension courses, the access course for entrants, the scientific and research section, the post graduate and doctoral studies, the Specialized Academic Council dealing with defense of PhD and doctoral theses, the scientific library, the museum, the modern art gallery, the publishing section, artistic and production workshops. Such well-known Ukrainian pedagogues, artists and art critics as I. Bokshai, I. Severa, V. Manastyrskyi, R. Smolskyi, K. Zvirynskyi, M. Fediuk, M. Vendzylovych, P. Zholtovskyi, E. Mysko, E. Lysyk, Ia. Zapasko, V. Ovsiychuk played a dominant role in the Academy formation. They formed author's school of painting, sculpture, applied and decorative arts, scenography, history and theory of arts. The educational and creative studios of the leading professors are a form of art education. Among them there are studios of the Academician, the rector of the Lviv National Academy of Arts, the T. Shevchenko prize-winner Bokotey, People's artist L. Medvid, the professor, Honoured artist of Ukraine Oleg Minko, the Academician, the Franko prize-winner Ya. Zapasko and Corresponding member, the T. Shevchenko prize-winner V. Ovsiychuk, the professor, People's artist of Ukraine I. Samotos, the professor, Honoured works of art R. Vasylyk, the doctor of Art Criticism O. Bodnar, Honoured artist of Ukraine O. Bonkovsky and others. 21 graduates of the Academy became T. Shevchenko prize-winners. Modern development of the Academy is impossible without active collaboration with home and foreign higher educational institutions. First of all it concerns long and productive collaboration with Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture and the Kharkiv Academy of Design and Art. Among foreign educational institutions there are a good few of famous European art academies and institutes in Poland, France, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Russia, Baltic countries. It is especially actual in terms of European educational integration. In 1993 the Educational – Scientific and Creative Complex was founded on the basis of the Academy. Its activity became the effective methods of realization of state programs. Twenty-two educational institutions of Ukraine of the 1st – 4th accreditation form parts of it. These educational institutions train specialists in art, design, restoration and art criticism.
