The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts

GAFA has been proactively deepening reforms in education and teaching to improve their quality following the guiding principle of “adhering to socialist education and nurturing talents with morality”. In the evaluation of the last three sessions of Teaching Achievement Award, GAFA was awarded one special prize, four first prizes and three second prizes by Guangdong Provincial Government. In 2021, it was awarded the special prize of Guangdong Provincial Teaching Achievement Award for “Integrating Morality with Art for Grand Beauty -- Research and Practice of Original and Creative Art Talent Training Mode from the Perspective of Great Aesthetic Education in the New Era”. In recent years, GAFA students have achieved outstanding results in various important competitions and events. They have won more than 100 important art/design prizes, including Bronze Award of the 12th National Exhibition of Fine Arts, Excellence Award of the 4th National Youth Art Exhibition, Gold Awards of Art Exhibition (Chinese Painting) in Nanjing China, Art Exhibition (Oil Painting) in Nanjing China, Best Works Award of China First Illustration Art Exhibition, China Habitat Environment Award, Asian Design Award, CIDA China Interior Design Award (Academy Award), and many internationally recognized awards including Red Dot Award, iF Design Award, Braun Design Award, IDEA Award of the United States, SPAPK Award, China Red Star Design Award, Gold Award of China Universities Industrial Design Competition (CUIDC) of the Ministry of Education. In 2016, GAFA was recognized as one of the third batch of Demonstrative Education Institutions for University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Guangdong Province. In recent years, the initial employment rate of GAFA graduates has remained above 94%, ranking high among universities in the province. Its average undergraduate salary has been ranking among top 100 in China, or top three among fine arts colleges, for five consecutive years. GAFA benefited greatly from a highly accomplished faculty in its nearly 70 years of development. Many renowned artists of epoch-making significance in art history once taught here, including Hu Yichuan, Yang Qiuren, Yang Taiyang, Guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai, Wang Zhaomin, Gao Yongjian, Chi Ke, Chen Shaofeng, Yang Zhiguang, Pan He, Zheng Canxia, Liu Qimin, Chen Xiaonan, Chen Tiegen, Zhang Xinrang and others. Today, GAFA again gathers a number of well-established faculty members who have taught here for years, such as Guo Shaogang, Chen Jinzhang, Liang Shixiong, Yin Guoliang, Zheng Shuang, Liang Mingcheng, Zhang Zhi’an, Yin Dingbang, Pan Xingjian, Wang Ren, Wang Shouzhi, Yang Yao, Li Ming, Zhao Jian, Quan Sen, Wu Weiguang, Fang Chuxiong, Guo Runwen, Tong Huiming, Li Jinkun, Huang Qiming, Lin Lan, Fan Bo, Cai Yonghua, etc. GAFA currently has 974 faculty and staff members, including 558 full-time teachers. Among them, 72 hold senior professional titles and 181, associate senior professional titles. It brings together an outstanding collection of talents and teams, including National Huang Danian-style University Faculty Team, vice-chairman of China Artists Association, chairman and vice chairman of Guangdong Artists Association, members of the Discipline Appraisal Group of Academic Degrees Committee under the State Council, experts entitled to special government subsidies from the State Council, deputy director of the Teaching Steering Committee under the Ministry of Education, board members of China Artists Association and directors and deputy directors of its arts committees, as well as board members of various specialized art and design associations in China. In recent years, GAFA proactively responded to the needs of national and regional socioeconomic development and pursued knowledge innovation, S&T progress and discipline development. In view of its positioning and actual conditions, GAFA has worked to further promote the integration of disciplines and majors, constantly optimize the mechanism for discipline construction and improve talent training quality. Now it offers 29 pathways in 28 majors, including Fine Arts, Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Calligraphy, Chinese Painting, Experimental Art, Art Design, Visual Communication Design, Environmental Design, Product Design, Clothing and Apparel Design, Public Art, Arts and Crafts, Digital Media Art, Art and Technology, Ceramic Art Design, Design for Theatre, Film and Television, Animation, Film and Television Photography and Production, Art Education, Clothing Design and Engineering, Industrial Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Art Management, Cultural Relics Conservation and Restoration, and Package Design. Among them, twelve undergraduate majors (Animation, Industrial Design, Arts and Crafts, Fine Arts, Experimental Art, Calligraphy, Chinese Painting, Painting, Sculpture, Visual Communication Design, Environmental Design, and Product Design) were recognized as National First-class Majors and another six majors (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Photography, Clothing and Apparel Design, Digital Media Art, Art and Technology), Provincial First-class Majors under the country’s “Double Ten Thousand Plan”, an initiative launched by the Ministry of Education to develop the first-class undergraduate majors and revitalize the undergraduate education in China. Other highlight majors include: - One major as national Pilot for Comprehensive Syllabus Reform; - Four national and eight Provincial Characteristic majors; - Two Provincial Key Majors; - Six provincial discipline reform pilot projects; and - Two Provincial Demonstrative Majors for Practice-oriented Talent Training. For undergraduate majors, GAFA has gradually developed a new pattern that emphasizes the demand of the society, first-class majors, multidisciplinary integration and dynamic adjustment.