The Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Rzeszów is a vibrant and dynamically developing academic unit dedicated to artistic creativity, scholarly inquiry, and high‑quality education. Its mission is to cultivate the artistic identity of emerging creators while deepening the understanding of contemporary art and its cultural contexts.

The origins of the Faculty date back to 1995, when the Department of Art Education was established within the Teachers’ College in Rzeszów. Initially part of the Institute of Education under the Faculty of Education, the Department enabled pedagogy students to pursue specialisations in art education through a three‑year full‑time vocational programme. A decisive milestone came in 1997, when the Department was transformed into the Institute of Art Education in response to the region’s growing interest in art‑oriented studies and to research exposing significant gaps in art education in primary schools across the Rzeszów area. As a result, the Institute was granted the right to offer five‑year master’s programmes.

From October 1999, the Institute extended its educational offer to include part‑time studies and, in line with nationwide educational reforms, launched three‑semester postgraduate programmes in fine arts education for graduates holding a master’s degree in pedagogy. Continued development prompted further structural changes: the Institute evolved into the Institute of Fine Arts and, during the 1998/1999 academic year, relocated to Krasne near Rzeszów. In 2008, following a resolution of the University Senate, the Institute separated from the Faculty of Education and Arts, leading to the establishment of the Faculty of Arts, which in 2014 moved to its present location at Al. mjr Wacława Kopisto 2B, significantly improving its visibility and strengthening its connections with the local community.

Over the years, the Institute and later the Faculty have been led by distinguished academics, including Professor Stanisław Górecki, Professor Tadeusz Nuckowski, Professor Irena Popiołek‑Rodzińska, Professor Jadwiga Szmyd‑Sikora, Associate Professor Józef Jerzy Kierski and Associate Professor Antoni Nikiel.

On 1 October 2019, pursuant to the University Statute of 26 September 2019, the Institute of Fine Arts was incorporated into the College of Humanities, with Associate Professor Dorota Sankowska appointed as Director. Most recently, on 1 January 2025, in accordance with the University Statute and by decision of the Rector, the Faculty of Fine Arts was formally established, with Associate Professor Łukasz Cywicki assuming the position of Dean.

Teaching activity
The Faculty of Fine Arts offers full-time studies in the following fields:

Visual Arts - first-cycle studies (3 years)

Specialties:
Design Forms and Multimedia
Spatial Forms and Intermedia


Visual Arts - second-cycle studies (2 years)

Specialties:
Design Forms and Multimedia
Spatial Forms and Intermedia

Graphics - integrated master's degree programme (5 years)
Graduation workshops: digital printing, relief printing, intaglio printing, flat printing, design workshops and multimedia workshop

Painting - integrated master's degree programme (5 years)
Graduation workshops: easel painting, forms of plastic expression, monumental painting, interdisciplinary multimedia workshop, artistic transgression, experimental drawing.

Scientific activity

The Faculty of Fine Arts conducts four priority tasks within the framework of scientific and artistic activity in the discipline of fine arts and conservation of works of art.

Research/artistic topic: Artistic research of formal means, expression and semantic connections in a work of art in the context of their cultural and social impact and mutual relations with other areas of science.
Task manager: prof. dr hab. Tadeusz Boruta

Abstract: Scientific and artistic research in the Department of Painting is conducted around eternal issues of art (and painting in particular), which were built on the phenomenon of the natural human need to express oneself through plastic form. They concern, among others, the search for a form of painting that allows for the expression of existential experiences of contemporary man and changes taking place in the socio-political and cultural reality. In the conducted research, it is important to analyze Signs, symbols and cultural codes present in culture, "playing" with them in paintings so that they create new semantic connections or redefine those already present in culture. Another important area of ​​research is the creation of paintings on a monumental scale, in public space, in the context of contemporary and historical architectural objects and urban layouts.

Research/artistic topic: Graphic space as a form of free creative creation.
Task manager – Associate Professor Joanna Janowska-Augustyn

Abstract: The proposed research topic "Graphic space as a form of free creative creation" gives the opportunity to realize graphic works by academic staff of the Department of Workshop Graphics and Art Theory and students of the Doctoral School of the University of Rzeszów, in the area of ​​various graphic techniques. An unlimited space of creative creation should be the basis of the artist's freedom. Searching for a way to construct a graphic image, choosing a topic and a traditional graphic technique (intaglio, flat, convex printing) and modern (digital printing, object, graphic installation), is an individual form of artistic expression, becomes the starting point for the creation of works.

Research/artistic topic: Research on graphic and multimedia imaging in public space.
Task manager – Associate Professor Wiesław Grzegorczyk

Abstract: The aim of the research is to search for the relationship between art and design and the public space of man. Visual identification, design of publications for printing (publishing graphics), illustration, data visualization (infographics), artistic printing, typography and their proper selection for expressing complex design projects are the basis of research work. The selection of methods for implementing the assumptions and theses specified in the topic is important. In the field of multimedia, unconventional workshop solutions are important. Combining disciplines (workshop plus technology) in the context of new media and examining the relationship between visual arts, and their interdisciplinarity is the main direction of artistic and scientific activities.

Research/artistic topic: Function and significance of visual means of expression in designing and shaping the forms of a work of art.
Task manager – Associate Professor Dorota Sankowska

Abstract: Creative tasks within scientific and artistic research cover a wide spectrum of issues related to the problems of contemporary art, and in particular to the area of ​​visual arts. This research addresses detailed components of matter existing in the space of painting, drawing, graphics, sculpture and new media. Their implementation is expressed both in the individual artistic creations of individual employees, as well as in scientific and artistic texts and reviews. The topic is implemented in various techniques belonging to the fields of art: drawing, painting, sculpture, digital techniques, and the effects of this implementation of the topic can be seen in many competitions and national and international exhibitions, collective and individual.