Filipp Nikandrov (designer of the Evolution Tower in Moscow City and the Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg), renowned architect and former Chief Artist of Odessa Vladimir Chepelev, the head of the Modeling and Design Department at the Chisinau Academy of Arts Alexander Savko (member of the Moscow International Association of Artists), Tatyana Untilova (member of the USSR Union of Designers), and Natalya Gnatyuk (member of the USSR Union of Architects)—these are just a few of the alumni of the Bendery Children's Art School. The institution has graduated over its 63-year history more than two thousand students who went on to become professional painters, graphic artists, sculptors, animators, fashion designers, theater and film artists, architects, designers, decorative and applied arts masters, and teachers including at the very school where they studied. While the first enrollment in 1963 consisted of 29 students, today the school has an enrollment of over two hundred. Director of the "Zyuzin Bendery Children's Art School" Mikhail Sharak reported to the President today that the staff comprises 13 specialized instructors and 10 support personnel. He has been in the profession for nearly half a century; from 1979 to 2000, he headed an art school in the Belarusian city of Rechitsa. He subsequently taught at the Bendery Art School, becoming its director in 2002.
The director speaks with pride about the school's students and alumni. One of them designed the future Bendery multifunctional center for sports and IT creativity, which is being developed at the site of the former river terminal. The art school itself is housed in a building that formerly served as a kindergarten. Although the building itself is old, it serves as a new home for the Bendery Children's Art School; the school relocated here this spring from a facility on Kirov Street that was no longer fit for use. Work is currently underway to adapt the infrastructure to the school's specific needs, for instance, plumbing still needs to be installed in the annex designated for clay modeling. The arrival of the new occupants has breathed new life into the grounds of the former preschool, which have been decorated with sculptures created by the students. The director noted that the site is a real find for artists, as the surrounding area is ideal for plein air painting sessions.
City Mayor Roman Ivanchenko, who accompanied Vadim Krasnoselsky, explained that the kindergarten building had become vacant due to a drop in enrollment numbers, following a decision to reorganize and merge several municipal preschools. The vacated premises remain under the jurisdiction of the public education department and cannot be transferred to commercial entities, a requirement set by the President that remains unchanged, Vadim Krasnoselsky emphasized.
