Academy / History

The Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice was established on 1 September 2001. It derived
from experience and tradition of artistic education in Silesia, after 54 years of being a Branch
of Fine Art Academy in Kraków. Its foundation was a crowning achievement of the efforts
of many generations of artists and people involved in cultural life of the region. The first
attempts aiming at establishing an independent artistic university (Aleksander Gierymski’s
School of Painting and Drawing in Katowice, 1936-1939) were shattered by the World War II.
In 1946 Katowice Department of State School of Arts in Wrocław was established, which was
incorporated into Fine Arts Academy in Kraków in 1952. For 50 years this Silesian school built
its own tradition within the famous Academy in Kraków, first as a Graphic Art Department,
and then as a Katowice Branch. It co-created one of the first centres of graphic arts
and graphic design in Poland. Many distinguished artists can be found among the first professors
and founders of the school: Aleksander Rak, Józef Mroszczak, Rafał Pomorski, Leon Dołżycki,
Bogusław górecki, Stanisław Gawron, Roman Starak – painters and graphic artists.
And so the identity of this artistic school was shaped – a school where specialised skills
in the domain of graphic arts and graphic design were formed on the basis of classic drawing
and painting workshop, and where the recent years enriched this consolidated identity with a special
atmosphere marked by a digital revolution.

Being a Branch resulted in having as professors in Katowice many of the eminent Cracovian artists

such as: Adam Hoffman, Bronisław Chromy, Andrzej Pietsch, Wojciech Krzywobłocki, who worked

together with those from Katowice – Gerard Labus, Stefan Suberlak, Jan Nowak. Graphic design

and the whole palette of graphic art techniques became an identification and a symbol of the school,
and prof. Tadeusz Grabowski became a master of many excellent artists. Tomasz Jura, Stanisław
Kluska, Zbigniew Pieczykolan, Michał Kliś, Tadeusz Czober, Adam Romaniuk, Jan Szmatloch
and Roman Kalarus – all these artists associated widely with Katowice gained national and European
recognition as well. Here in Katowice a unique model of education was created, which enabled
distinguished painters Andrzej Urbanowicz and Henryk Waniek to be awarded a diploma of Graphic Art
Department, whereas Andrzej S. Kowalski, Roman Nowotarski, Maciej Bieniasz and Jacek Rykała
contributed significantly to the consolidation of a painting foundation of the school, which led
to the creation of a separate Painting Department now (possibly a separate Faculty in future).
Thanks to the fact of being a Branch of the Academy in Kraków Silesian painters, graphic artists
and graphic designers created a very active artistic environment which, together with Silesian
musicians, contributed significantly to the cultural development of the region. Many distinguished
artists have graduated from the academy so far, and they are a real pride of the school.
Among them are: Leszek Rózga, Bernard Liberski, Karol Wieczorek, Tomasz Struk and Waldemar
Świerzy – holder of a Branch student’s record no.1 , who was awarded the title of a Honorary
Professor in 1997 (during the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Academy).
On 11 October 2001 he handed in a student’s record to the first student to be matriculated
in an independent Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice.

Newly-established, the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice began as a one-faculty Academy
– the Faculty of Graphic Arts (now the Faculty of Graphic Arts, Painting and Design), but with three
separate departments: graphic arts, painting and design. In 1999, with introduction of BA evening
studies, Academy’s educational offer was significantly expanded. Relentless efforts were rewarded
with success in the number of students who began their education in an independent Academy
– 45 MA daily students and 24 BA evening students. This significant increase in comparison
to the enrolment of the past years made the Academy face the challenge of finding its place in a new
reality – the one of dynamically changing ways of communication and transferring of artistic image
appropriate to demands and expectations of students.

Students’ and professors’ successes are the best test of strategies adopted by the Academy to rise
to those challenges, to mention only the medals of Waldemar Węgrzyn and Bogdan Topor (competitions
in Kanagawa and Taipei respectively) or Agnieszka Małecka’s Grand Prix at the President of Republic
of Poland’s competition for the best artistic diploma in 2002.

Our students achieve in numerous international competitions: Henkel CEE Art Award 2004
for Experimental Design, Michelin Challenge Design. They take part in an Exhibition of Polish Design
in Saint-Etienne. Last year our Academy was the prize winner of the President of Republic of Poland’s
competition“Superpracownia” /Superstudio/, and was awarded modern computer equipment.

Thanks to the co-operation with local authorities, and with a significant contribution of the Ministry
of Culture’s subsidy we have managed to finish the first stage of renovation of a building
on 17 Koszarowa Street. Digital Techinique Studio and Screen Process Studio - the studios
of the Graphic Art Chair - were located there. Consistently, based on European funds
and non-government financial sources we’re in the course of renovating two other building:
on 9 Dąbrówki Street and on 37 Raciborska Street.

Today, remaining faithful to its best tradition of artistic education, the Academy keeps making an effort
to meet expectations and needs of the region and the society, with primary aim to prevent further
cultural decline in this industrial environment. On the basis of its current achievement, and with an open
attitude towards future the Academy proceeds according to its motto “modus, species et ordo”,
hoping it to be lodestar dispersing the darkness.