The Academie voor Kunst en Industrie was found in 1946 by a group of textile manufacturers, to educate fabric designers for the local
textile industry. Until 1955 Dirk van de Leeuw of the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs was the director, after which the drawing teacher Bram Middelhoek (1906–1968) took over. In 1968, after some fifteen years of functioning as a traditional applied arts school, the AKI changed course to focus on free modern art with the appointment of Joop Hardy as new director. For several decades the school held the reputation of being the most free and rebellious art academy in the Netherlands. Hardy was followed by the artist Sipke Huismans, who held the directorial position from 1981 to 2001. For a long time the school was housed in a modern building from 1957, designed by Arno Nicolaï, on the Roessinghsbleekweg in Enschede. Later the school moved to the 'Technohal' (a former chemical laboratory) on the campus of the
University of Twente. In 2013 the school moved to the TETEM 2 building in the
Roombeek district of Enschede. Until June 2015 the school had a dependance for painting students in the former village school of
Twekkelo. Due to educational reforms in the early 2000s, the AKI had to merge with other art academies to reach a certain cohort count. In 2002 they merged with the art academies in
Arnhem and Zwolle and continued under the name ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. This caused distress amongst the students, who fought to retain the identity of the school. As a result the school has re-adopted its old name, AKI. == Education ==