Transcarpathian Academy of Arts

The Transcarpathian Academy of Arts is a post-secondary academic art institute. It was founded in 2003 and is located in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

Background
The academy is one of a few art schools in Ukraine that trains specialists in higher education.

Opening
Adalbert Erdeli (1891−1955) and Joseph Bokshay (1891−1975), graduates of the Royal Hungarian Art Institute, decided to establish an art school. Due to the lack of suitable land for the school, Erdeli settled in Mukachevo and became a teacher in the local civil school and teachers' seminary, where he worked from 1916 to 1922. In 1919, after returning from the Russian front in World War I, Bokshay found employment as a teacher in Uzhhorod, and remained in that position until 1945. Initial institution was a public school, founded in 1927, and the first art school in Transcarpathia was founded in March 1946. It was called the Uzhgorod State Arts and Crafts College, and was led by Erdeli. In 1947, the director was John Harapko. Former students succeeded Harapko, including Paul Balla (1958−1962), John Barnych (1962−1971), Joseph Pal (1971−1974), John Manaylo (1974−1980), John Kohutych, Boris Slivka (1985−1990), John Nebesnyk (1990−2003), Marina Kiyak (2003−2011), and Peter Petrysche (February 2011).

Residents
Among the faculty that taught painting and woodcarving, many had careers as artists, including Joseph Bokshay, Theodore Manaylo, Andrew Kotska, Adalbert Boretsky, Ernest Kontratovych, John Harapko, Basil Svyda, and Sandor Petkov.

Graduates included Vladimir Nikita, Paul Bedzir, Edith and Nicholas Medvetsky, Ferenc Seman, and Elizabeth Kremnytska. In December 1965, the institution was subordinated to the Ministry of Local Industry of the USSR, and renamed Uzhgorod College of Applied Arts. A new generation of art education teachers, college graduates of the Art Institute of the Soviet Union included Edita Medvetsky, Ivan Didyk, and Basil Petretskyy.

From 1998 to 2004, the college held dual-stage ("junior specialist", or bachelor's degree) training for integrated curricula.

Campuses
The Main building, where drawing, painting, and composition and font computer classes are held, is in Uzhhorod at Voloshin, 37 in the historic part of the city. The building of the Uzhan District was built on this site in the 18th century. This is evidenced by a baroque entry arch with the coat of arms of the Uzhan Committee and the date. Building "A" of the academy, from the same period, is partially preserved, as indicated by the construction of the basement and the shape of the roof topped by two acroteria. Building "B" of the academy was built in the 1930s Bohemian style constructivism.

Also located in Uzhhorod are a library, dormitory, workshops, and gym. 42 classrooms have been created for classes at the academy, including 14 drawing classes and 10 workshops. There is a computer center for students, which includes 6 computer laboratories connected to the Internet.

In the center of Mukachevo, there are classrooms in the "White House" of the Rákóczi family, which was built in the mid-17th century, as the residence of the Transylvanian princes. Initially, it was a one-story building with a style reminiscent of the Renaissance, which consisted of only five rooms. After the rebellion of Francis II Rákóczi (1704−1711), the palace passed to the Schönborn family and was rebuilt in 1746-1748. The reconstruction was carried out by Balthasar Neumann (1687−1753), a famous Würzburg architect at that time. According to his plans, a building with a wing symmetrical to the old building was added to the old part on the right side.

A museum has been created, where the best graduate works of the academy are stored. It also hosts a presentation of practical works from specialized disciplines, as well as more than 100 samples of plaster casts, geometric bodies, rosettes, antique portraits and figures, fragments of decor and antique architecture, écorché and original models by specialization.

The academy is equipped with educational and production workshops according to their purpose. Sculptural workshops are equipped with the appropriate machines, racks and illustrations; ceramics workshops are equipped with potter's wheels, molding machines, drying cabinets, electric furnaces for firing products, and corresponding displays; woodworking workshops are equipped with lathes, reaming, jointing, drilling, and circular sawing machines; metalworking workshops are equipped with milling, drilling, turning, screw-cutting machines, a furnace, anvils and appropriate tools; and graphics workshops with the appropriate equipment for easel graphics.

Institutes and faculties
The academy was formed with three departments, two of which are graduate departments.

Department of Design
Founded in 2004, it prepares bachelor and master level specialists in the following majors: graphic design, interior design, and environment design. It has full-time and part-time learning. The department is headed by Ph.D. of Art History, I. I. Nebesnyk (junior).

The department has developed appropriate curricula and programs for professional disciplines and specializations. The topics of coursework are diverse and adapted to the scientific research of the department, with the implementation of design and practical tasks directly related to majors. In particular, topics include designing advertising and publishing products, editions of the main book groups, branding and packaging and labeling products, interior design of residential and public spaces, and landscaping and greening of the territory of parks, squares and recreation areas.

Department of Fine and Decorative and Applied Arts
Created in 2004, the department trains bachelor-level students in the following majors: painting, metalwork, ceramics, and woodworking. It has full-time and part-time learning. Experienced teachers are also engaged to teach professional subjects. Most of the teachers are members of the Union of Artists (NSHU). The department is headed by Ph.D. of Pedagogical Sciences A. V. Voloshchuk.

Students of the department are actively involved in various symposia, exhibitions and plein airs at the regional and national level not only in Ukraine, but also in Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland. The Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine annually holds the All-Ukrainian Painting Olympiad at the academy. The department maintains ties with art academies, colleges, schools, and art schools in Ukraine.

Department of Education and Social Sciences
Covering general academics, the task is to ensure that students of all majors master classic humanitarian examples of world and national culture; to teach to be aware of worldview problems in the context of past and present, social and cultural life; to educate the ability to think independently, based on the achievements of national and world classical culture. The department is headed by Nebesnyk Ivan Ivanovych – Professor, Ph.D., a member of the Union of Artists, and Honored Worker of Education of Ukraine.

Here, in particular, the following disciplines are taught: pedagogy and psychology, cultural studies, history of Ukraine; aesthetics; ethnopsychology, foundations of law; basics of economic theories; Ukrainian business language, philosophy, copyright, religious studies, sociology and political science, basics of management and marketing, teaching methods of special disciplines and others.

The department serves as a base for holding the annual national conference on "Erdeliv Readings", based on the materials of which, since 2008, the Scientific Bulletin of the Transcarpathian Art Institute has been published, where articles by researchers in the fields of pedagogy, design, art history and art education are published.

Notable staff

 * Odarka Sopko, artist and graphic painter

Notable alumni

 * Rector of the Lviv National Academy of Arts A. Bockotey
 * Hungarian professor and philanthropist P. Balázs