Summer Schools & Semester Courses for the Public
The Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology (FFA) has long fostered openness to the public through its Summer Schools and professional courses, which cover areas such as drawing, painting, graphic design, multimedia, and sculpture. These educational programmes offer participants the opportunity to engage creatively during the summer months, enhancing their artistic skills, acquainting them with contemporary artistic practices, and facilitating encounters with inspiring individuals. Designed not only for the general public, including beginners passionate about art, but also specifically for prospective students, these courses effectively prepare attendees for talent and entrance examinations at art institutions. By organising such initiatives, the FFA successfully fulfils its role as a hub for arts education and cultural outreach beyond its standard curriculum.
Summer Schools & Semester Courses for the Public | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
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Number of Course Participants | 82 | 129 | 101 | 131 | 196 | 183 |
Number of Courses | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 17 |
Course Revenues (in thousands CZK / EUR) | 234 / 9,2 | 271 / 10,7 | 333 / 13,1 | 334 / 13,2 | 526 / 20,7 | 717 / 28,3 |
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Afternoon Semester Course in Sculpture
17 Feb – 13 May 2025FFA is offering a new semester-long course aimed at developing creative skills for the general public and prospective students of art schools. Participants in this practical course will become familiar with sculptural materials and the basics of modeling. Those interested may also work on and technically develop their own artistic projects. Beginners will acquire foundational skills and creative principles in sculpture. Advanced participants will have the opportunity to develop their individual abilities with expert guidance and consultations. The course can also serve as preparation for entrance exams to art schools.
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Afternoon Semester Course in Drawing
4 Feb – 13 May 2025A regular afternoon semester course in drawing for the general public. It is open to beginners, advanced learners, and applicants to fine arts schools. Public participants without prior drawing training will develop fundamental drawing habits and skills, and become oriented in academic drawing. Advanced participants can develop expressive drawing techniques. The course is also suitable as preparation for talent entrance exams. Each participant receives a tailored individual program based on their skill level.
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Saturday Screen Printing Courses
February – May 2025FFA is offering Saturday courses focused on screen printing. In this one-day course, participants will learn the basics of screen printing and have the chance to print on T-shirts, fabric, or paper of their choice. The course covers everything needed for independent screen printing: editing the design (by hand or digitally), using programs like Photoshop, Inkscape, PhotoGenia, or GIMP. Participants will explore other stencil-making techniques such as drawing with ink or marker, scratching, masking with film, and collage. The full stencil preparation process will be covered—from applying the photosensitive emulsion to exposing the screen and properly washing it out.
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Saturday Courses in Drypoint, Line Etching, Soft Ground, and Aquatint
February – May 2025FFA offers a series of Saturday courses focused on the fundamentals of classical printmaking techniques. Open to the general public and aspiring art students, participants will learn the basic principles of traditional printmaking and try the entire process for each technique—from preparing the plate, working on it, to printing. Everyone will leave with hands-on experience and their own prints.
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Summer School of 3D Modeling
23–25 June 2025Participants will be introduced to Blender and learn to create 3D objects. The course focuses on hard-surface modeling, commonly used in digital game design. It includes preparing objects for texturing and an introduction to material work. The course is designed for beginners.
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Summer School of Magic
30 June – 4 July 2025This course explores magic through embodied knowledge and folk healing, focusing on witchcraft linked to health and connecting bodies to the land. Working with natural elements and environments—including the sauna—participants will develop gentle frameworks for listening to the unseen. The course is a space for unexpected encounters, exchange, and exploring delicate relationships between humans and nature, including critical reflection on the role of the unseen in performance and contemporary art.
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Summer School of 2D Animation
1–3 July 2025
11–13 July 2025Participants will explore animation as a playful, creative form of movement. They'll experiment with bringing digital drawings to life and refine their intuition for constructing motion. The course emphasizes idea development and converting imagination into moving images. Each participant will create several animation exercises.
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Summer School of Painting and Drawing Techniques
7–10 July 2025Participants will develop their skills in traditional media such as oil painting, watercolor, tempera, and drawing techniques (dry/oil pastels, paper types, brushes, canvas stretching, etc.). Inspirational subjects will be provided, but participants may also work on their own projects. The course highlights material variety to support individual creativity.
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Summer School of Sculpture
7–13 July 2025
21–27 July 2025This hands-on summer school introduces participants to sculptural materials and the basics of anatomical portrait modeling. They may also develop personal projects and explore relief sculpture with an emphasis on perspective foreshortening. Beginners will learn essential sculptural practices, while advanced participants can deepen their skills under expert supervision.
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Summer School of Creative Writing
9–11 July 2025This intensive course explores various approaches and methods in creative writing across prose, poetry, and experimental texts. Group exercises foster sensitivity to structure, build imagination, and enhance collaboration. Participants can also receive feedback on their own work and learn about current trends in literature and audiovisual art.
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Summer School of Life Drawing and Figure Drawing
10–14 July 2025Designed for those interested in academic figure drawing and applicants to art schools, this course expects a basic understanding of drawing fundamentals (e.g., perspective). Beginners will practice with plaster casts and live models to gain foundational skills, while advanced participants can refine expressive techniques.
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Summer School of Humor
18–20 July 2025Do you love jokes? Does humor resonate with you? This playful and bold course explores creativity, improvisation, and turning ideas into cultural capital—whether in galleries, public spaces, or just staring into the void. Through experimental exercises, discussions, and observation, participants will discover how to make humor part of their creative practice.
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Summer School of Thinking
18–20 July 2025Do you enjoy thinking? Do you think a lot? This course is finally here! Exploring creativity, improvisation, and bold concepts, it mirrors the structure of the Summer School of Humor, focusing on turning thoughts into practice and cultural impact. Expect experimental exercises, discussions, and interesting company.
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Summer School of Photography
4–7 Aug 2025Focusing on conceptual, narrative, and experimental aspects of photography, this course explores mobile photography, old digital cameras, and webcams—combining materials to tell visual stories or fashion editorials. It's open to both active photographers and those looking to experiment with the medium.
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Summer School of Movement and Critical Thinking
18–22 Aug 2025This movement laboratory addresses critical thinking in dance and performance, body politics, and neoliberal trends in self-care and somatic dance. Together, participants will explore challenges in dance education and discover tools for building collectivity and solidarity during social and environmental crises.
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Summer School of Painting
19–21 Aug 2025
22–24 Aug 2025Open to beginners, advanced learners, and prospective art students, as well as painting enthusiasts. The course includes consultations on existing works and practical painting sessions (tempera and oil) with live models, focusing on composition, color, lighting, and tone. Together, we’ll explore how to discuss painting—through and about painting.
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Afternoon Semester Course in Sculpture
14 Oct – 9 Dec 2024
17 Oct – 12 Dec 2024FFA is offering a new semester-long course aimed at developing creative skills for the general public and prospective art school applicants. Participants in this practical, semester-long course will become acquainted with sculptural materials and the basics of modelling. Those interested can also develop and technically resolve their own art projects. Beginners with no prior experience in sculpture will acquire basic skills and principles, while advanced participants will have the opportunity to further develop their individual abilities with professional guidance and consultations. The course may also serve as preparation for talent entrance exams.
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Afternoon Semester Course in Drawing
10 Sep – 10 Dec 2024A regular afternoon semester-long drawing course for the public. The course is intended for beginners, advanced participants, and those applying for art schools. Public participants with no formal drawing training will acquire basic drawing habits and skills, and become familiar with academic drawing techniques. For advanced participants, the course offers a space to develop individual abilities in expressive drawing. The course is also ideal preparation for talent entrance exams. The programme will be tailored to the drawing abilities of individual participants, with a personalised approach for each.
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Summer School of Nude and Figure Drawing
28 June – 2 July 2024The summer school is intended for those interested in academic figure drawing, and for applicants to art schools. Public participants are expected to have basic knowledge of academic drawing, such as perspective. Those without prior training in figure drawing will acquire basic drawing habits and skills through studies of plaster casts and live models. For advanced participants, the summer school offers space for further development of individual abilities in expressive drawing.
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Summer School of Sculpture
8–14 July 2024
22–28 July 2024Participants in this practical summer school will become familiar with sculptural materials and the basics of anatomical portrait modelling. Those interested can also develop and technically resolve their own artistic projects. We will also explore relief sculpture, focusing on foreshortening techniques. Beginners without prior training in sculpture will acquire basic skills and principles, while advanced participants will have the opportunity to further develop their individual abilities with professional guidance and consultations.
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Summer School of Painting
26–28 Aug 2024
29–31 Aug 2024This summer school is designed for beginners and advanced participants, art school applicants, and those with a love for the medium of painting. The course will include consultations of existing works. Over the course of the programme, we will work on tempera and oil painting from live models, focusing on composition, colour, light, and tonal value. Together, we will explore how to speak about painting through painting. The aim is to familiarise participants with the formal foundations of painting through the classical genres of portrait and still life, and to apply these principles to personal works.
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Summer School of 3D Modelling Basics
4–6 July 2024Participants in this summer school will learn to use Blender to create 3D objects. The course is primarily focused on 3D modelling, particularly hardsurface modelling, which is often used in the creation of 3D graphics for digital games. The course will also cover preparing 3D objects for texturing and basic work with materials.
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Summer School of 2D Animation
1–3 July 2024
12–14 July 2024During the summer school, participants will have the opportunity to explore animation as a playful and creative process of working with movement. They will experiment with the illusion of life in digital drawing and refine their intuition for constructing movement. The course emphasises the search for ideas and developing the ability to translate imagination into moving images, discovering new creative principles, and freeing up drawing skills. Each participant will complete several animation exercises as part of the course.
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Summer School of Field Recording
19–20 Aug 2024This summer school focuses on working with field recording and critically examining the soundscapes of our environment. In the Planýrky area in Brno, participants will record, listen, and reflect on the volume, colours, and intensities of the sounds present. What sounds dominate in this environment? What can these dominant sounds tell us about our surroundings? Participants will learn the basics of operating an audio recorder, recording sound, and editing recordings. The course encourages a critical awareness of the conditions of urban environments through listening.
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Summer School of Visual Programming Basics
19–21 July 2024
26–28 July 2024In the Unity game engine environment, participants will try visual programming using the Playmaker plug-in with prepared exercises. The goal of the course is to create a small game prototype based on tasks assigned by the instructor. By the end of the course, participants will be familiar with the Unity environment and able to create a simple game prototype. The course is aimed at beginners.
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Summer School of Photography
12–15 Aug 2024The summer school focuses on the conceptual, narrative, and experimental aspects of photography. We will explore the potential of mobile photography, shooting with older digital cameras, and webcams, combining materials for new creations. The goal is to use photographic materials and juxtaposition to create a visual story or editorial, particularly in fashion photography. This summer school is for both those already active in photography and those looking to explore new possibilities within the medium. Participants will also experiment with alternative post-production techniques through printing, scanning, and re-photographing images. In the final session, we will explore online platforms and print publications for showcasing work, including advice on submitting to open calls.
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Summer School of Life
15–19 July 2024This summer school offers a space to explore and deepen one’s relationship with the body and its interaction with the surrounding environment. Participants will learn to understand their body’s communication, reactions, form, functions, and expression as material essence. Together, we will embrace our otherness through body positivity, creating space for mistakes, healing, and wonder. The summer school encourages a lively and confident awareness of the body as a means of communication and performance, allowing for the exploration of individual and collective narratives. It is open to a wide range of participants, including those who feel outside traditional societal norms, and those often subjected to stigma or violence. This course offers collective healing and a platform for expressing individual otherness.
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Summer School of Humour
30 July – 2 Aug 2024The summer school takes the form of open discussions, practical and theoretical exercises, observations, spatial experiments, and games, aimed at creating bold conceptual frameworks through "conceptual improvisation" and proposals for potential realisation. The goal is to develop the ability for creative and critical thinking in creating original works or within collaborative processes at various stages of the artistic process, without being confined to a specific genre or medium. We draw from principles used in visual art, curating, contemporary dance, physical theatre, musical composition, film, writing, video games, and comedy. Emphasis is placed on mutual interaction and individual and collective dispositions. Individual consultations will also be available as part of the course.
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Summer School of Digital Sculpture
15–19 July 2024This summer school will guide you through the challenges of creating digital 3D models, both through computer-based modelling (using Blender) and virtual reality (VR). Students will learn to scan 3D models using various 3D scanners, edit scanned models, and prepare them for 3D printing. Participants will also have the opportunity to print their created models on the school’s 3D printers.
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Afternoon Semester Course in Drawing
15 Feb – 16 May 2024A regular afternoon semester-long drawing course for the public. The course is intended for beginners, advanced participants, and those applying for art schools. Public participants with no prior training in drawing will acquire basic drawing habits and skills and will become familiar with academic drawing techniques. For advanced participants, the course offers a space to develop individual abilities in expressive drawing. The course is also ideal preparation for talent entrance exams. The programme will be tailored to the drawing abilities of individual participants, with a personalised approach for each.
Responsibility: doc. MgA. Filip Cenek