Tartu Art School is a vocational education institution operating since 1951, which focuses on art and design education. Society and specialties have changed, but the school's contribution to the cultural history of Estonia and Tartu is and will remain important. Tartu Art School has been the beginning of the professional education of many Estonian artists.
In the jubilee year, a collection of graphic short stories “TK70” has been published and the works of the alumni have been shown at the Pallas Gallery exhibition “Lähteala”. This exhibition marks a solemn occasion by exhibiting the paintings and sculptures of alumni in the Estonian National Museum.
Curator Kalli Kalde: “I used the curator’s freedom to make a subjective choice about the works of artists who had graduated from art school through decades. The assembly of this exhibition set started from three lists. The first two lists were of artists whose works could be exhibited. I got one from Helle Vahersalu, an alumnus and long-term teacher of the art school, and another from Kadi Kreis, the director of the art school. There were far more names on these two lists than would have fit in this exhibition.”
