Fine Arts is the foundation and integral component of all types of visual art. The level of drawing and painting is arguably the primary criterion for assessing the quality of art education and the school as a whole.

Among the painting schools of Ukraine—Odesa, Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv—the Transcarpathian School of Painting has its own identity and history. Today, specialists with higher education are entrusted not only with elevating the level of this school but also with addressing a range of cultural and educational challenges in the region.

The Department of Fine Arts is a leading department at the Transcarpathian Academy of Arts, with experience based on the achievements of prominent senior artists such as A. Erdeli, Y. Bokshay, F. Manailo, A. Kotska, and others, who in 1946 became the founders and instructors of the Uzhhorod Art and Industrial School (now the A. Erdeli Professional College of Arts of the Transcarpathian Academy of Arts). The painting division at the school was one of the first, producing renowned artists such as Vasyl Habda, Semen Malchytskyi, Yuliy Stashko, Pavlo Bedzir, Yelyzaveta Kremnytska, Pavlo Balla, Volodymyr Mykyta, Edita Medvetska, Mykola Medvetskyi, Mykhailo Romanyshyn, Nataliya Hertz, Yuriy Hertz, and others. Most members of the Transcarpathian Regional Branch of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine are alumni of the school from various years.

The establishment of the Transcarpathian Academy of Arts and the Department of Fine Arts was supported by prominent figures in Ukrainian art: People’s Artist of Ukraine Emmanuil Mysko, academician and professor, People’s Artist of Ukraine Andriy Chebykin, People’s Artist of Ukraine Andriy Bokotey, academician of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine, People’s Artist of Ukraine Volodymyr Mykyta, and People’s Artist of Ukraine, Chairman of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Volodymyr Chepelyk.

The Department of Fine Arts (originally named the Department of Painting) was established in 2004. The teaching staff gradually included well-known artists and scholars of Transcarpathia: People’s Artists of Ukraine Vyacheslav Prykhodko (1940–2011), Vasyl Skakandiy (1941–2020); Honored Artists of Ukraine Liudmyla Korzh-Radko, Anton Kovach; painters and candidates of art studies Attila Kopryva, Ihor Lutsenko, and others. Prioritizing creative thinking and the realization of individual artistic potential, the department’s key mission is to train specialists at a high academic level to foster contemporary art and continue the regional artistic traditions of Transcarpathia.

The department is responsible for training specialists in the field 023 “Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, Restoration,” according to the educational programs “Fine Arts” (Bachelor’s level) and “Painting” (Master’s level) for both full-time and part-time study.

The main staff of the department currently consists of renowned artists and scholars, members of the regional branch of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, laureates of national and regional awards: Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Associate Professor, Honored Artist of Ukraine Korzh-Radko L. A.; Head of the Department of Fine Arts, Associate Professor, Candidate of Art Studies, Corresponding Member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Kopryva A. T.; Honored Artist of Ukraine Kondratiuk O. Ye.; highly qualified specialists and lecturers of professional disciplines Derda O. H., Derda V. O., Fohash N. S., Mykhailova-Vashkovych K. S., Zymomria V. F., Manailo-Prykhodko V. I., Tymchiy O. Yu., Filchenko K. A.

The academic staff of the department provides student training according to the curriculum, which includes a comprehensive cycle of theoretical and practical disciplines. Mandatory components of professionally oriented disciplines include “Drawing,” “Painting,” “Fundamentals of Composition,” “Color Theory,” “History of Foreign Art,” “History of Ukrainian Art,” “History of Art in the Field,” “Composition,” “Professional Skills,” and others. The department’s instructors have also developed syllabi for elective components of professionally oriented disciplines: “Experimental Painting Techniques,” “Short-Term Figure Studies,” “Plein-Air Practices and Abstraction,” “Artistic Painting,” “Creative Combinatorics,” and others.

The region has more than twenty-five schools of aesthetic education and art schools, as well as numerous studios, creating objective conditions for training painters and teachers. Student training for future teachers of fine arts in general and specialized educational institutions is conducted through courses such as “Methods of Teaching Fine Arts,” “School-Age Psychology,” “Pedagogy,” and through pedagogical practice in city and regional schools.

The Department of Fine Arts actively engages in research and creative work, closely linked to the preparation of specialists at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels.

Department instructors actively participate in organizing and conducting art Olympiads, plein-air competitions among students of art and pedagogical universities, serve as jury members in the All-Ukrainian Competition for Scientific Works of Small Academy of Sciences members, and organize seminars for heads of regional art schools.

The department regularly holds various creative and exhibition events: intersessional and semester reviews of student assignments, presentations of creative works by students and faculty, and open defenses of diploma projects. Students and instructors actively participate in seminars, symposia, and creative plein-airs at regional, national, and international levels (Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Romania).

Scientific-methodical and practical seminars, as well as annual international and national conferences dedicated to the study of the life and works of prominent artists and specialists in fine arts and the implementation of the best achievements of world art, are conducted at the department.

A well-established tradition is the holding of painting masterclasses by the department’s instructors, including People’s and Honored Artists of Ukraine. Students of the department are consistently encouraged to participate in various art events, including regional, national, and international exhibitions and plein-airs. Notably, the number of students participating in the annual student scientific conference of the Transcarpathian Academy of Arts increases every year.

The Transcarpathian Academy of Arts and the Department of Fine Arts have signed a series of agreements with institutions in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, including the Galant Gallery in Sobrance, Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, the Art and Culture Society of the Carpathian Region in Nyíregyháza, the Hortobágy Plein-Air Foundation, the specialized art school named after Károly Kós, educational institutions in Prešov and Svidník (Slovakia), and leading Ukrainian universities, including the Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Lviv National Academy of Arts, Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, and Uzhhorod National University. Overall, the research, educational-methodical, and creative activities of the department’s instructors and students are distinguished by effectiveness, diversity of forms and directions, and contribute to the enhancement of professional skills and the training of highly qualified specialists.