Vitebsk. Belarusian Art College

Vitebsk is a city of artists and sculptors. In 1918, the Vitebsk National Art School was established on the initiative of Marc Chagall. After the Vitebsk region joined Belarus in 1924, the institution became known as the Belarusian Art College. And the college changed its address, moving to the city center in a building that is now located on pedestrian Suvorov Street.

During this period, the director of the college was the sculptor Mikhail Kerzin. Since that time, the college has become the main forge of artistic personnel in Belarus. Teachers and students, led by the painter Valentin Volkov, took part in the development of the state emblem of Soviet Belarus, actively worked in the Vitebsk Local History Society, as well as on the decoration of the city of Vitebsk during the holidays.

Among the graduates of the educational institution, first of all, People's Artist of the BSSR and the USSR Zaire Azgur (1908 - 1995), sculptor, People's Artist Andrei Bembel (1905 - 1986), sculptor Sergei Selikhanov (1917 – 1976), painter Nathan Voronov (1916 – 1978), artist and teacher Pavel Maslenikov (1914 – 1995), sculptor, People's Artist of the BSSR Alexei Glebov (1908 – 1968), People's writer of Belarus Vasil Bykov (1924 – 2003) and many others.

Since 1939, the college was renamed the Vitebsk Art College, and the term of study increased to 5 years. Due to the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, the educational institution ceased its activities.

Since 1979, the children's art School No. 1 has been operating in the building.