Glass Art Department at Lviv National Academy of Arts: unique centre of contemporary glassmaking

The preconditions for the emergence of professional art education in the field of art glass in Lviv and Galicia are considered. The history of artistic glass and its influence on the development of the modern center in Lviv on the basis of the Lviv National Academy of Arts is analyzed. The history of the Department began in 1961 with an experiment, when at Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Art (today Lviv National Academy of Arts) a small department of plastic and glass art was opened. Full formation of the unit took place in 1963–1964 and corresponded to the needs of provision with the specialists of experimental workshop of glass art of Lviv Experimental Ceramic and Sculpture Factory of those times. The curriculum of basic art disciplines is formed in accordance with the specificity of the material – glass art and is focused on consideration of the importance of imaginative or constructive thinking, according to selected specialized direction. For decades, the staff of the Glass Department keep contact with glass artists in the whole world, participates in organization of international symposiums and exhibitions, meetings with students, lectures, workshops with the participation of the most famous artists in the world. Since 1989, the teachers and staff of the Department have been actively participating in the organization of International Symposiums of Blown Glass that are the most long-lasting continuous forums of glass artists in the world nowadays. On the base of the Department, mini-symposiums for students took place, and in 2013 and 2016, a scientific and creative workshop (glass-melting furnace) became the main base for the work of famous glass artists from different countries of the world. Every three years the students have an opportunity to observe the work of the most world well-known glass artists from various countries, participate in workshops and lectures. The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of the Department of Art Glass of the Lviv National Academy of Arts in the modern studio movement.