ENSAAMA's ancestry can be traced back to the École des Arts Appliqués à l’Industrie, which in 1856 was the first professional women's school. This became merged with the schools of Germain Pilon and Bernad Palissy in 1925 and with the Cours Supérieur d'Esthétique Industrielle founded in 1958 by Jacques Viénot, occupying the site of the now École supérieure des arts appliqués Duperré, and of the École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers d’Art founded at the start of the 1950s, which occupied the site of the old Hôtel Salé, now the Musée Picasso. The life of the school is organised around various disciplines in which recognized experts come to share their expertise: Serge Mouille directed the jewellery-making department in the 1950s, and in 1958 Roger Tallon, Georges Patrix, Denis Huisman, Jacques Fillacier, the sculpteur Stahly, the architect Paul, among others, brought the school to life with the first Industrial Aesthetics course in France. Since the start of the 20th century, the school has taken the nickname "Arts-A". In 1956, ENSAAMA opened the first industrial design course in France. The section still exists today, as Product Design. In 1969, ENSAAMA moved to new premises on the Rue Olivier de Serres, in the 15tharrondissement of Paris. Over time the school has become known by the name "Olivier de Serres". In the 1980s, the originality of this school lead to the teaching of a course for secondary-school students. This course provided an education in all the "technical" arts of the school, as well as providing a general education so that students could obtain a Baccalauréat and so the BTS. This option has since been removed. In many of the higher workshops the school teaches the BTS, which is a two-year course towards, most often, a Baccalauréat in Decorative Arts, or a one-year course to get Foundation in Decorative Arts. In 2006 the school celebrated the golden jubilee of its Design section with an evening to which were invited all the alumni since its creation.
Current situation
The ENSAAMA today is a public school with 710 students in post-baccalauréat education, with a diverse professional character. It is currently one of the four major Parisian establishments in the teaching of art methods. These schools have a solid reputation in the world of Decorative Arts and Art Methods, springing from their 150-year history.
