The Youth Ivan Grohar Art Colony Through Time

The Youth Ivan Grohar Art Colony is Slovenia’s largest painting colony aimed at young artists. As part of this day-long annual art colony, pupils of the upper grades of primary school have been creating works of art based on the scenes from the medieval old town of Škofja Loka for more than fifty years.

From its establishment in 1968 until 1989, the art colony was headed by Lojze Malovrh, a versatile cultural worker, teacher and head teacher. At the time, it lasted three days, was hosted in the Serbian town of Smederevska Palanka for a number of years and the attendance was often international. Following a six-year break, since 1995, it has been run by Janez Jocif, another versatile cultural worker and musician, employed at the Public Fund for Cultural Activities of the Republic of Slovenia – Škofja Loka Regional Office (JSKD – Škofja Loka RO). To date, the art colony has been attended by more than 13,000 young artists from Slovenia, as well as from Serbia, Italy and Austria, and around 5,000 mentors/art teachers. The highest number was recorded in 1981, when 395 pupils created art in Škofja Loka’s squares and streets under the guidance of 115 mentors.

The exhibition The Youth Ivan Grohar Art Colony Through Time features photographic and documentary materials, a selection of children’s artworks, as well as catalogues, newspaper publications and video interviews with the participating artists and organisers recorded especially for this exhibition.

The exhibition is part of the research and exhibition project titled Together, which focuses on amateur culture – especially fine art – and its importance for professional culture and art, as well as society at large. The project has been organised by the Škofja Loka Museum in cooperation with the JSKD and comprises three exhibitions staged in two galleries (Coming Full Circle and The Fullness of Emptiness at the Castle Gallery, and The Youth Ivan Grohar Art Colony Through Time in the Round Tower), the accompanying programme and an online archive.

The regional and national exhibitions and the accompanying activities organised by the JSKD educate numerous amateur artists and ensure their visibility. Similarly, the Youth Ivan Grohar Art Colony has been encouraging creativity among lower-secondary school pupils for many years. Some of its participants will become artists the likes of those featured in the exhibition Coming Full Circle, all of them, however, will retain the experience of realising that art is important and that it belongs at the heart of our lives and society.