Musrara School is a higher education institution for multidisciplinary art, which provides professional training to its students in the fields of photography, new-media art, visual communications, new music and phototherapy, in relation to social and interdisciplinary practices and in a three-year program. The school was founded in 1987 in the Musrara neighborhood in Jerusalem, and is currently one of the active art schools in Israel. The faculty is composed of veteran and young artists, professionals and alumni of the school – teachers who guide and support students through personal dialogue.
As a central art school in Israel, Musrara School constantly strives to adopt novel approaches and perceptions in teaching and art education. The school offers a scholarly alternative, enabling each and every student to evolve and intern – practically and conceptually – following his or her tendencies and personal and professional capacity. The school maintains community projects and encourages students to experience and take part in social activity with a variety of populations inside and outside the school, such as a photography course for prisoners at Maasiyahu Prison; photography courses for special-education kids, at-risk youth and children of the Musrara neighborhood; high school matriculation exams in photography; activist artists hub; practicum of students of the Phototherapy Department in welfare, health and education facilities. Graduates of the school are integrated in the artistic, professional and commercial markets, and boast recognition and achievements. Many alumni of the school evolve as active artists and are at the heart of the artistic field in Israel. Some turn to social activity and a variety of community projects, others teach or integrate into the commercial market. The school encourages group projects and supports alumni who chose this path.
Among the alumni of the school are Kareen Kalush (Lorisity), Shalev Gil, Din Menasheroff, Jan Tichy, Tal Adler, Nevet Yitzhak, Gaston Zvi Ickowicz, Chen Cohen, Michal Sophia Tobiass, Miriam Naeh, Niv Gafni, Micha Simhon, Raad Bouaya, Steve Sabella, Ilya Malinkov, Dafna Grossman, David Amoyal, the Zvoov im Groove band, founders of the Uganda, Bass and Sira venues in Jerusalem, and many other talents.
The school is situated at the heart of Musrara, a picturesque neighborhood with a history of social struggle, a geographic and demographic junction, a cultural and social meeting point uniting an art-loving public, art students, and a public that visits the school galleries and the annual Musrara Mix Festival produced in the neighborhood by the school.