The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) is a famous art university in Haizhu. As the cradle of the Lingnan School of Painting, Haizhu attracts many people to study arts.

GAFA used to be called the Central South College of Fine Arts and was located in Wuhan. It was the result of a merger between the South China Institute of Art and Literature in Guangzhou, the Central South Institute of Art and Literature in Wuhan, and the Guangxi Institute of Art.

The college was later moved from Wuhan to Guangzhou and renamed GAFA in 1958. It once operated under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, but now works directly under the provincial government of Guangdong.

GAFA consists of the School of Traditional Chinese Painting, the School of Fine Arts, the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, the School of Industrial Design, the School of Visual Communication and Media Design, the School of Art Education, the School of Arts and Humanities, the College of Continuing Education, and the Department of Political Science.

The academy has two campuses, the Changgang Campus and the University Town Campus, which occupy an area of 564 mu (38 hectares) and a total floor space of 362,500 square meters.

The academy boasts a host of renowned contemporary Chinese art masters, including Pan He, Guan Shanyue, Hu Yichuan, Li Xiongcai and Liang Mingcheng.

The Changgang Campus still retains the former residence of Guan, who lived there for 19 years until his death in July 2000.

Upholding the education philosophy of "being upright and innovative with an open and inclusive mindset, an insight into reality and an aspiration for serving society", GAFA has developed its own educational characteristics following more than six decades of evolution.

GAFA leverages the strengths, reform, and opening up policies of the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), making it a leading art school in China.

GAFA. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]