Detail from Tor Arne’s (1934–2025) work Painting, 2013–2015, oil on canvas, 55 × 160 cm
Detail from Tor Arne’s (1934–2025) work Painting, 2013–2015, oil on canvas, 55 × 160 cm
The Free Art School is a private institution founded in 1935, specializing in painting. It is located at the Cable Factory in Helsinki. The school offers a full-time, four-year study programme leading to a professional career in painting.
The school is maintained by the Free Art School Support Association, which also organizes public drawing courses and lectures, curates exhibitions, and publishes art-related materials.
Vapaa '25 now available as a virtual exhibition
The degree exhibition, which closed on 18 May 2025, is now available as a 3D recording on our website. You can explore the virtual version of the Vapaa '25 exhibition online: Vapaa '25. In the future, the link to the recording will be available on the exhibition's webpage. The exhibition presents th...90 Years of Painting Education – A Book on the History and Pedagogy of the Free Art School
The Free Art School celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, a commemorative book is being published in collaboration with HAM Helsinki Art Museum and publishing house Parvs. The richly illustrated volume highlights the school’s diverse history and its unique pedagogical app...Vapaa '25 Showcases 12 Recent Graduates in Painting
Press Release, March 2025 This May, twelve painters will graduate from the Free Art School, Finland’s only institution solely dedicated to painting. Their graduation works will be showcased in the Vapaa '25 exhibition at Puristamo, Cable Factory in Helsinki, from May 3 to May 18, 2025. The opening r...The final Painting of the Month vote of the Spring Term 2025 was won by a work by Enna Saari
In the final Painting of the Month vote of the Spring Term 2025, students selected a work by Enna Saari as the winner.Saari is currently in her first year of studies. ArtistEnna Saari, born 2004Hometown: Heinola...Improvisoituja musiikkiesityksiä Vapaa '25 näyttelyssä tiistaina 6.5. ja keskiviikkona 7.5. sekä Myymälä 2:ssa perjantaina 9.5.
Vapaa '25 lopputyönäyttelyssä kuullaan Kaapelitehtaan Puristamossa kaksi musiikkiesitystä Eevi Oittisen maalauksien inspiroimina. Lisäksi perjantaina Myymälä 2:ssa jatkuu teossarja Fragments. Tiistaina 6.5. Klo 18 Harmonikkataiteilija Laura Mehmeti tulkitsee Eevi Oittisen maalauksen "Notations". Ke...Milla Tarpio - Punaisen auringon alla, Galleria Vaagassa 29.4. alkaen
Milla Tarpion näyttely Punaisen auringon alla Galleria Vaagassa. Näyttelyn avajaisia vietetään ti 29.4. klo 17-19 ja näyttely on auki 29.4.-18.5. Tarpio opiskelee kolmatta vuosikurssia. Laaksossa tapahtuu jotain outoa. Varjot ovat muuttuneet smaragdinvihreiksi. Sudenkorennot kymmenkertaistuneet koo...Student Stories
Alumni Story: Kristo Saarikoski
Kristo Saarikoski. Photo: Hilla Kurki
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Teacher Spotlights
Pilvi Ojala
“The world is full of rules, so let art be a place where one can think and act freely.”
Pilvi Ojala is fascinated by, among other things, the Wunderkammer, which she describes as a cabinet of wonders or curiosities—a reflection of its collector, a collection that exists somewhere between reality and illusion.
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