Centering on “Problems of Foundation Art Education among the Academies of Fine Arts”, the summit of presidents from academies and schools of international art, design and architecture was successfully held from November 28th to 30th at CAFAM. The Seminar on Foundation Art Education among 9 nationally celebrated institutes in China was also conducted from November 29th to 30th, which aroused a debate on “Foundation Art Education” in the international and domestic art circles.

Sponsored by the Central Academy of Fine Arts, this seminar has invited Deans from the United States, Britain, Japan, Australia, Singapore and other world-class colleges of art and design. Founded in 2011, “International Colleges of Art and Design Summit” was initiated by the Central Academy of Fine Arts to construct an important academic platform in the process of creating an academy of fine arts which “plays the leading role home and abroad”. It also provides a platform for mutual communication among international art colleges where they can explore basic training in art and design education, as well as the relationship between foundation art education and creative power.

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Photograph: Hu Zhiheng/ CAFA ART INFO

Distinguished guests who have participated in this summit include: Tony Jones, Dean of The Art Institute of Chicago; Roger Mandle, Chairman of Qatar National Museum of Art and former president of Rhode Island School of Design, U.S.; Stephen Beal, Dean of the California Institute of the Arts; Karen Wirth, Vice-president of Minneapalis College of Art and Design; Allyson Vanstone, Dean of School of Art and Design in Virginia Commonwealth University, U.S.(Qatar); Jeannene Przyblyski, Vice-president and Chief Academic Officer of San Francisco Art Institute; Ian Howard, President of College of Art, The University of New South Wales, Australia; Linda Drew, Vice-president of The Glasgow School of Art; Venka Purashothamen, Vice-president of La Salle Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore; KITAGO, Satoru, Vice-president of Tokyo University of the Arts; Tom Loeser, Dean of Department of Art at the University of Wisconsin etc.

Discussions were divided into three days. From November 28th to 29th, Presidents from various Universities each made a major speech on the academic settings as well as philosophy of foundation art education. The Q&A session after each of their presentations also reached the purpose of realizing the substantial, concrete and in-depth communication among presidents home and abroad. During the seminar on the foundation art education in the colleges of fine arts, the presidents discussed the central role of teaching drawing, materialization of concepts, artistic expressions of national and personal identity, the cultivation of undergraduates’ social awareness, challenges of global contexts and diversification, international cooperation and interdisciplinary teaching, studies in art history in the sphere of foundation art education, respective modes of foundation art education etc. Representatives from different internationally renowned colleges of art also brought outstanding work by recent students to this seminar, which directly represent their separate ideals in art education.