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The EU-funded project created a model for close collaboration between two painting schools and launched the development of a network for European painting schools. The two-year pilot project included teacher exchanges between Finland and Iceland, study trips from Helsinki to Reykjavík and vice versa...
The degree exhibition, which closed on 18 May 2025, is now available as a 3D recording on our website. You can explore the virtual version of the Vapaa '25 exhibition online: Vapaa '25. In the future, the link to the recording will be available on the exhibition's webpage. The exhibition presents th...
The Vision 2030 for Visual Arts Education and Pedagogy, led by the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki, has been completed and published. Elina Merenmies, Principal of the Free Art School and painter, was a member of the project's core group. The aim of the vision work was to...
PRESS RELEASE – November 12, 2024 – For immediate release Opening: November 20, 5–7 PMExhibition dates: November 21, 2024 – January 31, 2025 Erno Enkenberg, Siiri Haarla, Aura Hakuri, Marjatta Hanhijoki, Eveliina Hämäläinen, Jukka Korkeila, Tuomo Laakso, Ville Löppönen, Markku Arantila, Elina Merenm...
The public art project organized jointly by the Free Art School and the HUS Art Committee during the 2023–2024 academic year culminated in a competition held in spring 2024. A total of fifteen winning works by students from various year levels were acquired into the HUS art collection. Throughout th...
The Free Art School celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, a commemorative book is being published in collaboration with HAM Helsinki Art Museum and publishing house Parvs. The richly illustrated volume highlights the school’s diverse history and its unique pedagogical app...
In the autumn semester of 2023, the HUS Art Committee and the Free Art School launched a collaborative public art planning and execution project for students of the Free Art School. The project includes a series of public art courses and culminates in a public art competition for students. As part o...
The 2024 Aïda Alliman Grant has been awarded to painter Noora Kaunisto.Kaunisto graduated from the Free Art School in 2020. Noora Kaunisto on receiving the grant and her art:She shares that the grant will allow her to focus on preparing for her exhibition at tm•gallery in summer 2025:“I’ve had an in...
Press Release, March 2025 This May, twelve painters will graduate from the Free Art School, Finland’s only institution solely dedicated to painting. Their graduation works will be showcased in the Vapaa '25 exhibition at Puristamo, Cable Factory in Helsinki, from May 3 to May 18, 2025. The opening r...
Launched a year ago and funded by the European Union, the Erasmus+ project has progressed as planned. The student group from the Free Art School that visited Iceland had the opportunity to exhibit their works and share their experiences in an exhibition and seminar held at Suomenlinna. The exhibitio...
Burning Rainbow Bridge is an exhibition inspired by the Free Art School’s fourth-year students’ study trip to Iceland in spring 2024. The trip took place as part of an Erasmus+ exchange project. The exhibition presents works by eleven art students. The paintings, drawings and other pieces on display...
The two-year Erasmus+ pilot project, funded by the European Union, aims to establish a network of painting-focused art schools across Europe. The initiative includes teacher exchanges between Finland and Iceland, student study trips between Helsinki and Reykjavík, and various collaborative activitie...
