On Monday, 30 January 2023, the six state art colleges in Bavaria founded the university association "Kunsthochschule Bayern". With this, the Bavarian art colleges are joining forces even more closely than before in order to publicly represent the interests of professional art education in Bavaria with a strong voice.

The first successes of this joint appearance, which has so far been coordinated in the State Conference of Bavarian Art Colleges, are the close participation of the art colleges in the hearings on the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act (BayHIG), which came into force on 1 January 2023, and the intensive participation of the art colleges in the currently negotiated framework agreement between the Free State of Bavaria and all state universities. The university alliance "Kunsthochschule Bayern" is now one of three strong alliances representing the interests of art and science, alongside the alliances "Universität Bayern e.V." and "Hochschule Bayern e.V.".

Minister of Art Blume emphasises: "Our Bavarian art colleges - as multifaceted and innovative as the arts: they are excellent training centres, places of creative work and important social impulse generators! I am pleased that they are bundling their interests in one strong voice through the founding of the university association 'Kunsthochschulen Bayern'."

The university association gives a firm form to the previous cooperation within the framework of the State Conference of Bavarian Art Colleges and thus replaces the State Conference. The chairmanship is held by Prof. Rainer Kotzian, President of the Nuremberg University of Music. Prof. Karen Pontoppidan, President of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, is the Vice-Chair. The chair is elected every two years.

The cooperation agreement on the "Bavarian Academy of Art" university network was signed by

• Prof. Holger Felten (President of the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg)
• Prof. Lydia Grün (President of the University of Music and Theatre Munich)
• Prof. Rainer Kotzian (President of the Nuremberg University of Music)
• Prof. Karen Pontoppidan (President of the Academy of Fine Arts Munich)
• Prof. Bettina Reitz (President of the University of Television and Film Munich)
• Prof. Dr. Christoph Wünsch (President of the University of Music Würzburg)