The Academy was created in 1945 as a Public Academy of Arts in Łódź. It was created by many local artists such as Władysław Strzemiński and Stefan Wagner, as well as invited guests from abroad: Felicjan Szczęsny Kowarski, Roman Modzelewski, Ludwik Tyrowicz, Władysław Daszewski and Stefan Byrski. At first, there were only three departments: the Department of Fabric and Cloths, the Department of Ceramic and Department of Graphics. The Academy's first president was Leon Ormezowski. The professors and founders spent the first two years creating the Academy's program by searching for inspiration in artistic and didactic literary outputs of bauhaus and Kazimierz Malewicz’s pedagogical experience. Władysław Strzemiński had a great influence on the Academy’s development, both through his five years of teaching and through his artistic and didactic approach. In honor of his contributions and influence, the Academy adopted his name in 1988. Strzemiński was a painter, a theoretician and a teacher of avant-garde of international renown. Known as the creator of Unism Theory, Strzemińskiwas also strongly connected with Łódź even though he hailed from Mińsk. He lost his arm, leg and sight in one eye during the First World War, but that did not discourage him from continuing with his artistic education. He ended up as an assistant to Kazimierz Malewicz in Russia. Within just a few years, he found himself in the forefront of Russia’s avant-garde movement, working with Eliezer Lisicki and Alexander Rodchenko. In 1931, he came to live in Łódź for good. There he developed his Association of Polish Artists and Designers. In 1932, he received a Reward of Town Łódź. Due to expansion, the Academy moved to larger and more modern premises in 1976. Prior to then, the school had been located in a post-war building. The new building was designed by Bolesław Kardaszewski. This monumental building is an example of Kardaszewski's contemporary realizations, designed just for the artistic academy. The name of the Academy was changed at the end of the 20th century. In 1996, it was renamed to its current title, "Academy of Fine Arts".
Some students publicize their connection to the Academy all around the world by taking part in competitions organized by various academic institutions. Recent student achievements include:
Daria Piotrowska won the third edition of Young Design contest organized by the Institute for Urban Design. Her project, Project “CATPOD” is a transport for housecats with which she defeated nine other projects that qualified to the finals.
Katarzyna Malec, a third-year student from the Design and Interior Architecture Department, won first prize in a “Spa-Art” 09/10 contest for her “YinYang” project.
Dominka Drezner won with a design of a new baby carriage for a competition organized by producers and distributors of such devises.
Joanna Leszczyńska received the Grand Prix 2012 for graphics.
Ewa Buksa-Klinowska, a student of the Jewelry Department, was honored with the 24th International Cloisonné Jewelry Contest.
