The first dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen will be Josef Mištera

Plzen - The first dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of West Bohemia in Plzen will be academic painter Josef Mištera, who founded and has led the Institute of Art and Design, from which the faculty recently emerged. Mištera was successful today in a secret vote, receiving ten votes from the ten present faculty senators; he was the only candidate proposed for the deanship. The university spokesperson Kamila Kvapilová informed ČTK about this.
    "After being appointed to the position by the rector, he will lead the faculty for four years, until 2018," she stated.
    Josef Mištera is an illustrator, graphic designer, painter, animator, and university educator. He guided the Institute of Art and Design to its transformation into an art faculty last year and advocated for the construction of a new building. "In the strategic concept of the faculty, he builds on the legacy of the internationally recognized Czech-American designer Ladislav Sutnar, for whose symbolic return to his native Plzen he has advocated," Kvapilová stated. Mištera is also the founder of the Ladislav Sutnar Prize, currently preparing the establishment of the Creative Industries Incubator in Plzen and the Ladislav Sutnar Design Center.
    The Faculty of Art and Design at the University of West Bohemia in Plzen was established on September 1, 2013, through the transformation of the Institute of Art and Design, completing more than a decade of development of the school. The Institute of Art and Design has been functioning at UWB since 2004. There are 670 students studying in 26 bachelor's and master's programs at the Faculty of Art and Design, which also organizes art courses for the public and, in collaboration with Plzen 2015, Arts Management courses. The faculty primarily focuses on design and applied arts and collaborates exceptionally with technical fields. Many renowned Czech artists work there.
    Josef Mištera founded and serves as art director of the international summer art school ArtCamp and the international competition for high school students, Teendesign. As a member of the board of directors, he was involved in the initial formation of the Techmania Science Center in Plzen and actively works on the board of the Plzen - European Capital of Culture 2015 organization.