Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is Israel's national school of art. It is named after the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri, who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 35:30).
It is located on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.

The academy was founded in 1903 by Boris Schatz, and opened in 1906, but was cut off from its supporters in Europe by World War I, and closed due to financial difficulties in 1929.
It was reopened as the New Bezalel School for Arts and Crafts in 1935, attracting many of its teachers and students from Germany, many of them from the Bauhaus school there that was shut down by the Nazis. In 1969 it was converted into a state-supported institution and took its current name. It finished its relocation to the current campus in 1990
In 2006, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is celebrating its 100th anniversary. In the future, the academy is expected to change its location back to Jerusalem's city center, to what is now known as The Russian Compound.
Page last Updated 13/07/2007