“We need to create quickly and decisively the new equipment throughout the life of the productive class…”: the history of the first tertiary art school in Tambov. 1919—1922

The article examines the previously unexplored history and activities of the so-called Free art studios (SGHM) in Tambov (1919—1922). Based on the recent found archival sources the author seeks to prove that, in a relatively short period of existence of this interesting kind of experimental schools was not due to «doom» the experiment in principle, but rather difficult economic conditions of the post-revolutionary years in which he was forced to develop. No matter what, this is a groundbreaking experimental high school made a significant contribution to the development of the artistic life of the region and managed to educate a number of local artists. As in other regional SGHM, universally experienced in the same period, there were first adopted and put into practice many innovative ideas put forward and developed by major theorists of early Soviet art and become a powerful creative impetus in the artistic history of the city.