While for prospective students ArtCamp represents an opportunity to prepare for entrance talent exams and get acquainted with the faculty environment, other participants come for many different reasons. For some, the summer courses are a pleasant break from their holidays or vacation; for others, a return to a creativity they once set aside. Others find here a safe environment for personal growth or a spark to develop their talent further, while more experienced artists take the opportunity to learn new techniques and enrich their creative work.
"My goal was to broaden my horizons and combine another technique with linocut. The course was absolutely great. It was perfectly led, we had space for individual approaches, and we got to try everything out in practice. Next year I'll definitely come back for lithography and ceramic design," shared Martina Chomátová, one of the participants in the Serigraphy courses.
Photographer Dorota Franková also came to ArtCamp to explore new paths. She chose a course focused on creative writing within the context of an artist's book, one of this year's new offerings. "The workshop opened up a new way of thinking about my own text and about story as such. It helped me push past boundaries I had unknowingly set for myself while writing, and gave me greater courage to experiment. I'm taking away not just concrete craft experience, but also a sense that my voice can be more authentic and free. It was an important creative impulse for me that moved me significantly forward," Franková praised the course.
The courses are traditionally led by teachers from the Sutnar Faculty, as well as various guests from the Czech Republic and abroad. According to Lenka Kodýtková, the summer school's executive director, one of the most valuable experiences for participants is precisely the opportunity to meet artists and designers from different countries and creative fields. "This year, ArtCamp welcomed guests from, among other places, Japan, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Scotland, and Italy. Sutnar Faculty graduates also take part in the teaching every year, which can serve as both inspiration and motivation for those who are still considering studying at the faculty," added Kodýtková.
This year's accompanying program also offered space for informal encounters among participants and lecturers. It included exhibition openings, café evenings with drawing, tours of Loos's interiors, and regular ArtCamp Talks featuring presentations by the artists and designers who teach the summer school's courses. The exhibition Art Relay at the Incubator Gallery at Sutnar Faculty showcases the work of three of them, who are also graduates of the faculty. Their works will be on display until Thursday, September 3.
"I consider this jubilee twentieth year of ArtCamp a great success. We once again managed to fulfill the very purpose of the whole summer school - to offer quality education, space for artistic development, and opportunities for meeting people and sharing experiences. I believe participants will continue to draw on their experience of the summer courses at Sutnar Faculty long after they end, not only through new skills, but also through the contacts and friendships they made here," summarized the summer school's director.
Every year, ArtCamp offers dozens of week-long courses covering a broad spectrum of visual art techniques and design processes - from classical drawing, painting, illustration, graphic design, and modeling to experimental and unconventional techniques such as work in augmented reality, video mapping, or experimental forms of animation. ArtCamp also opens the door to further opportunities for study and creative work. The faculty also offers thirteen-week semester courses for the public. In addition to drawing and painting, interested participants can choose, for example, jewelry making, digital painting, or figure drawing, as well as lectures on principles of photography. Applications for the autumn courses are open until September 13, with classes starting about a week later, on Monday, September 21.
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Photo by Kristýna Nguyenová
Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art |
Monika Bechná |
10. 08. 2026 |
ArtCamp 2026 is financially supported by the Statutory City of Pilsen.