The history of the
National Art School in Beiping () dates back to the founding of the
National School of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1918, advocated by the educator
Cai Yuanpei. It was the first national school of fine arts in China and also the beginning of Chinese modern education of fine arts. The academy was founded in April 1950, as a result of the merger between the National Art School in Beiping and the department of fine arts at the third campus of North China University. The former principals of CAFA include
Xu Beihong,
Jiang Feng,
Wu Zuoren,
Gu Yuan,
Jin Shangyi,
Pan Gongkai, and
Fan Di'an.
Lin Mao has been the president since 2023. The current director of academic commission is Jin Shangyi. The academy comprises six specialty schools: Fine Art, Chinese Painting, Design, Architecture, Humanities and Urban Design. A post-graduate education school and high school of fine arts are also affiliated. There are 534 teachers and staff for 3,800 undergraduate and graduate students and over 100 international students. Its museum of fine arts boasts precious collections, including more than 2,000 Chinese scroll paintings from the
Ming dynasty. CAFA edits, publishes and distributes two national first-class academic magazines, "Fine Arts Study" and "Fine Arts of the World". The design programme of CAFA was renewed in 1995 in the name of the Department of Art Design, after a break of some 40 years, and became the School of Design in October 2002. For preparing and training the students as future professionals in design with creative thinking and practical capabilities, the School of Design offers undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. degrees in programs ranging from visual communication design, product design, fashion design, photography, digital media to design theory and history. The School of Design plays an important role in promoting design in China and is actively involved in various design activities, most notably its designs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as the establishment of the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University (previously known as the Central Academy of Fine Art's Huadong Campus). The new CAFA Art Museum, designed by Japanese architect
Arata Isozaki, is located at the northeast corner of CAFA campus at No.8, Huajiadi Nan Street, Wangjing, with an area of 3546 m2 and a total floor area of 14,777 m2. The Museum opened in October 2008 for the University's 90th anniversary. The new six-floor museum has several notable collections, including over 2,000 historic Chinese scroll paintings from the Ming Dynasty. The museum hosts rotating exhibitions. The school drew media attention during the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 when the students created a large statue called the
Goddess of Democracy. Each of the eight art academies signed
a statement explaining the purpose of the statue. In 2018 the asteroid
118418 Yangmei was named in honor of the academy. ==Schools and colleges==