Free Workshops
School of Contemporary Art Free Workshops is the Russia’s oldest educational centre, forming the future of Russian art. It is a project on education of the new generation, setting waypoints, plunging into the context of the world art, imparting skills of thinking and feeling actual tendencies, giving an opportunity to study professional disciplines, to communicate with interesting representatives of the world of art, to learn from well-known teachers.
The school was founded in 1992 by a group of artists and art historians. Among them there were artists, such as Alexander Ponomarev, Vladimir Kupriyanov, Vladimir Nasedkin, and MSU professors, i.e. Vera Dazhina and Valery Turchin. Over the years, a whole generation of artists, whose success was largely obliged to the youth policy of Moscow Museum of Modern Art, was formed.
At present, the School’s educational activities have two main directions. The first one is training (or retraining) of artists, who want to follow current trends in contemporary art. The second one is training of art historians and curators. Theoretical courses for all directions are designed so that the student can choose a specific set of disciplines depending on which trends in current art are priority for him. Carefully selected theoretical and practical courses, proficient teachers, the most actual tendencies of educational activities and the cooperation with the Museum are exclusive conditions for the educational centre, which plays an important role in development of the Russian art.
The School’s main goal is to prepare professionals able to work proficiently in the field of contemporary art, to give young artists and curators an opportunity to self-actualize in group and solo projects. We expect that our graduates will master the full range of skills, necessary for preparation of exhibition projects, and can work in future without institutional support or can find it by themselves.
As a part of the MMOMA, the School gives the students a unique opportunity to learn theoretical and practical aspects of contemporary art. At all stages of the artists’ careers, the Museum and the School support young artists, assisting them with participation in group exhibition projects (annual exhibitions of young art Workshop), organization of the first solo exhibitions (the Debut program for young artists), development of artistic careers (the Second Floor program), acquisition of artworks for the MMOMA collection.
Head of the School of Contemporary Art Free Workshops:
Daria Kamyshnikova
