Bezalel Academy of Art and Design (BAAD)

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the most prestigious art school in the country. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle. The Arts and Crafts like art created by Bezalel's students and professors in the early 1900s is considered the first formal Israeli art. Following the waning of the School of Paris inspired artists of Tel Aviv and Safed's artists' quarter, as well as the school's abandonment of the arts and crafts in favour of modernist art, the school gradually regained its prominence in the Israeli art scene.