FIELDS OF STUDY

· Glass Design (in 6 specializations)

· Applied Chemistry (in 4 specializations)

· Glass Technology

· Product Design

In 2025, the Secondary School of Applied Arts for Glassmaking in Železný Brod celebrated its 105th anniversary. As the first purely Czech glassmaking school and the largest glassmaking school in Europe, it offers a wide range of four-year vocational programs leading to a high school diploma in the fields of art and chemistry.

Above all, it was deliberately established in 1920 as the first specialized glassmaking school in the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic with the mission to “prepare students for independent work in artistic glassmaking while also providing them with a basic business education for independent entrepreneurship.”

Under one roof, the school currently offers two tracks of four-year high school programs leading to a high school diploma: glass design and chemical technology. Two artistic and two technical fields, with a total of ten professional specializations, form a unique blend of theory and practice, as well as of the technical and artistic environments. The school has its own glassworks and covers nearly all hot and cold techniques of artistic glassmaking. Traditionally, the school marks every five-year anniversary with the publication of a printed booklet documenting its activities; this year’s edition is titled GEN 105. The publication accompanied two annual student exhibitions, primarily at the Lázně Liberec Gallery (GALALI) and the Central Bohemian Museum in Roztoky. A staple of the school’s calendar is the annual summer exhibition of student work, SKLO A DESIGN, held in the glass school building; it is also presented as part of the Glass Town Festival, during Open House Days on October 18, 2026, and January 26, 2027, and the school is actively involved in events in the Crystal Valley, Crystal Valley Week, including the Fragile Beauties festival and annual participation in Made in Jablonec.

Students in the oldest program, Glass Design, study six glass-making specializations starting in their first year: Cutting and Fused Sculpture, Glass Blowing, Painting and Decoration, Engraved and Embossed Glass, Design of Technical and Decorative Glass and Glass Figurines, and Design of Jewelry, Costume Jewelry, and Fashion Accessories. Students in the Product Design program work with all materials, which enables them to engage in extensive collaboration with specialized companies in the region that utilize the latest technologies. The topics related to product, packaging, graphic, as well as interior and exterior design that students encounter during their studies evolve in tandem with the overall trends in contemporary design.

Students in the Applied Chemistry program study four selected specializations starting in their third year: Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Substances, Environmental Protection, and Nanotechnology and Polymers. Together with students in the Glass and Silicate Technology program, they have access not only to their own modern laboratories but also to practical glass-processing facilities under one roof. Thanks to this, our glassmaking school lives by the motto “from theory to practice and from practice to theory.”

The school is responding to the increased need for digital technologies, particularly in the teaching of computer graphics and 2D and 3D visualization. Every year, students participate in professional internships at companies and glassmaking workshops, and they successfully present their school projects at prestigious exhibitions, trade fairs, and design competitions in the Czech Republic and abroad, as evidenced by numerous awards. Graduates are highly employable in the job market and well-prepared to continue their studies at universities offering technical and artistic programs. (Student Design, Master of Crystal, Student Design Award, Made in Jablonec, Craft and Art in Glass Nový Bor, Design-S Brno, Talente Munich, Frauenau Summer School). Graduates are highly employable and have excellent prospects for continuing their studies at universities (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague; Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague; Technical University of Liberec; University of Pardubice; University of West Bohemia; Charles University; Jan Evangelista Purkyně University; Secondary Technical School and Higher Vocational School of Applied Arts, Prague). The school maintains optional collaborations, professional internships, or memoranda of understanding with numerous partners (Preciosa, Elmarco, Detesk, Crytur, Banasglass, Steinel, Trevos, Dias, Polpur, Temperatior, Desko, Moser, GDS Technology, ACL Holding, Sklo Suchánek, TopTec, Sklopísek Střeleč, the Premedis Foundation, INTERIER-O, P 46, RIA REALITY, HART, Lust Collection, and others).

Every year, the school co-organizes the traditional “Glass Town” fair with the City of Železný Brod and, in cooperation with the Železný Brod Museum and with financial support from the City of Železný Brod, hosts the “Summer Glass Workshop” symposium, featuring both Czech and international glass artists.

The annual exhibition of student work, “SKLO A DESIGN,” held in the school building during the main summer break, showcases new additions to the collection of student art pieces. Selected student works, as well as the publications “SKLO|STO|BROD” and “GEN 105,” are available for purchase at the school store. For students from out of town, the school offers its own youth dormitory.