The School of Arts in Zlin was founded at the instance of Jan Bata. After failure of his firm at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937, he decided to educate design artists for his firm directly in Zlin. He authorized arch. Frantisek Kadlec with completing the education programme. Kadlec elaborated the programme according to German Bauhaus as a school associated with industrial design, more specifically for shoe-making industry. Since 1939, the school employed several distinguished pedagogical personalities, one of which being sculptor V.Makovsky who led the sculptor studio. He educated his students to collaboration with designers in creating new shape of a machine or tool. The school education included also a compulsory practical training in the Bata works. On engaging, candidates with artistic talent, technical thinking and trained in a craft field were preferred. One of them was Z.Kovar.
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