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Art Education in Cluj-Napoca
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The first art schools in the country were established in the 18th century, in Cluj and Sibiu, then, in the late 19th century, at Iassi (1860) and Bucharest (1864). The schools of icons and church painters from Nicula, Laz or Făgăraş may be considered as their predecessors, being the first art education institutions in Transylvania.
The Unification of Romania and Transylvania (December 1st 1918) was also auspicious for the art education. At the same time with the foundation of “Dacia Superior” University in Cluj, the Executive Council also planned to establish a school of fine arts, which was to be led by the sculptor Cornel Medrea. The project was fulfilled on November 15th 1925, with the foundation of the School of Fine Arts, which opened its gates in January 1926. The school had two departments: painting and sculpture, and its main goal was artistic, practical and theoretical education and development of the elements necessary to artistic education. Consequently, the courses were practical – painting, sculpture, graphical art and anatomy, and theoretical – history of arts, aesthetics, history of culture and literature. Thus, the School of Fine Arts responded to an important cultural necessity, “being an important cultural source in Transylvania, with profound and reliable activity” (Nagy Rozsa). The school passed through different phases, the first between years 1926-1933, followed by Timişoara phase – caused by the Second World War. The first principal of the school was professor Alexandru Popp, a prominent member of the teaching staff of the School of Decorative Arts in Budapest, succeeded by the painters Pericle Capilan, Catul Bogdan, Atanase Demian and by the sculptors Eugen Pascu and Romul Ladea. The professor Victor Papilian guided the class of artistic anatomy, and Coriolan Petran the history of arts. Aesthetics and history of nature were led by Emil Isac, general inspector of arts in Transylvania. Atanase Popa guided the classes of geometry and perspective. Pedagogy also benefited from the presence of two great personalities: Gh. Bogdan Duică and Liviu Rusu.
The school re-settles in Cluj in 1950. The name of the institution changed to “Ioan Andreescu” Institute of Fine Arts, acquiring excellent national reputation due to the teaching staff and some remarkable graduates, who contributed to the prestige of Romanian contemporary art.
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UAD - The Recent Stage
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In 1990, the name of the institution was changed to “Ioan Andreescu” Academy of Visual Arts, only to become the University of Art and Design (UAD), from Cluj, in 2001. At present, UAD has a teaching staff consolidated by many young artists, with national and international prestige during the last years. The process of making the educational structure, curricula and university management compatible with those of similar European institutions led to widening of the studied specialties by establishing new departments: Photo-Video-Digital image processing, Pedagogy of Art, Mural painting, Conservation-Restoration, which added up to the traditional ones: Painting, Sculpture, Graphics, Ceramics-Glass-Metal, Textile Arts, Design.
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