>> More than 250 people celebrate this historic milestone, the first Fine Arts graduation in the Balearic Islands
>> The 20 students of ADEMA complete four years of artistic training based on creation, research, professionalization, internationalization and direct contact with cultural institutions
The first graduating class of Fine Arts students from ADEMA has already made history in the Balearic Islands. The 20 students who make up this pioneering generation graduated this afternoon at Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani in Palma, in a ceremony that brought together more than 250 people, including academic and institutional authorities, representatives from the Fine Arts field, faculty, and families.
During the ceremony, awards were also presented recognizing the academic excellence, artistic research, and cultural and social commitment of the new graduates in Fine Arts.
The Palma City Council Award for best academic record and excellence in artistic production and research, presented by the Deputy Mayor of Palma City Council, Mercedes Celeste, was awarded to Rebeca Morey Pérez.
Likewise, the Barceló Foundation awarded the Prize for artistic research and social reality to Paula Muntaner Pérez, and the Prize for cultural identity and contemporaneity to Margalida Serra Celià, both presented by the general director of the Barceló Foundation, José María Navarro.
These awards highlighted the talent, effort, and hours of dedication of a graduating class that culminates its university stage with an outstanding artistic projection.
The graduating class has spent four years pursuing an academic path linked to artistic creation, university teaching, research, and internationalization. Their work has been structured around exhibition projects, the production of artwork, and interaction with artists, teachers, curators, and cultural institutions, as well as exchange programs with national and international universities and art schools. All of this has fostered a professional development, critical thinking, and the cultivation of a unique artistic perspective.
The event included speeches by the president of ADEMA, Diego González; the general director of Universities, Sebastián Massanet; the academic director of ADEMA-UIB, Dr. Joan de Pedro; the head of Degree Studies, Dr. Amparo Sard; and a representative of the graduating students, Rebeca Morey.
The ceremony was held at Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani, in the same space that hosted the opening of the first academic year of Fine Arts in the Balearic Islands, thus closing a foundational stage for the degree and for university artistic training in the islands.
During his speech, ADEMA President Diego González highlighted the historic nature of this graduating class and thanked the students for their commitment to the project. He also noted that these students “have brought ADEMA’s classrooms, workshops, and creative spaces to life, contributing creativity, sensitivity, critical thinking, and enthusiasm.”
González thanked the Administrations, collaborating entities and national and international universities that have supported the university degree from the beginning and highlighted the role of the teaching staff by pointing out that “teaching art does not only consist of transmitting technical knowledge, but also of accompanying creative processes, awakening perspectives, stimulating questions and helping each student to find their own voice.”
On the other hand, the president of ADEMA encouraged the new graduates to face the future with creativity, courage and freedom, and defended the relevance of art in a society marked by rapid changes, uncertainties and cultural challenges.
For his part, the Director General of Universities, Sebastián Massanet, took the opportunity to reaffirm the Government’s firm commitment to arts education and to elevating the status of disciplines such as art, design, music, and theater, traditionally relegated to a secondary role in academia. In this regard, he defended the need to reverse this perception and place Higher Artistic Studies in the position of excellence, prestige, and academic recognition they deserve.
During his address, the academic director of UIB-ADEMA, Dr. Joan de Pedro, emphasized the historic nature of this first graduating class, which he described as pioneering in the construction of its own academic and artistic identity. He underscored the rigorous academic standards of the program, the support of the University of the Balearic Islands, and the international focus of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which has allowed students to participate in exhibitions, academic events, and cultural experiences both within and outside of Spain. He also affirmed the essential role of art in contemporary society as a tool capable of interpreting, questioning, and transforming the world.
For her part, the Head of Studies for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Amparo Sard, emphasized the human and artistic dimension of this first graduating class, highlighting the profound evolution experienced by the students during four years of learning, growth, and shared experiences. In a particularly moving speech, Sard emphasized the graduates’ shift in perspective, their transformation as artists and as individuals, and the value of having been part of the beginning of an academic project that today confirms its purpose. She also expressed her gratitude for the students’ trust, effort, and energy, as well as the dedication of the ADEMA team, the faculty, and ADEMA’s president, Diego González, whose drive has been key to realizing and consolidating the future of Fine Arts at the institution.
The student body was represented by a graduate from the first graduating class, who recalled the start of the degree program as a shared experience of growth among students, faculty, and the institution itself. The student thanked the faculty for their passion, dedication, and commitment, as well as their ability to transmit not only knowledge and experience, but also a critical, honest, and conscious approach to artistic creation.
In her speech, the student representative emphasized that the key to this first graduating class’s experience at ADEMA has been the opportunity to grow beyond the classroom. Exhibitions, installations, events, trips, and real-world projects have allowed students to begin a professionalization process through direct experience, learning to create, organize, communicate, and defend artistic proposals in real-world contexts.
The ceremony also included two performance art pieces: Birthland, by ADEMA artist and teacher Concha Vidal, accompanied by Anne Florio and Victoria Bush; and Art Now, by Verónica Ruth Frías de la Cuesta. The event also featured a performance of La Balanguera, the anthem of Mallorca, a particularly significant moment as it coincided with the centenary of the premiere of the musical version of Joan Alcover’s poem.
The journey of this first graduating class has been structured around some of ADEMA Fine Arts’ core values: project-based learning, creation as a research process, ongoing collaboration with cultural institutions, internationalization, early professional development, and the cultivation of a critical perspective. Over these four years, the students have worked on projects that have integrated research, production, analysis, decision-making, technical solutions, and public presentation of their work.
Throughout their studies, students have maintained contact with artists, teachers, researchers, curators, gallery owners, cultural managers, and national and international institutions. This direct engagement with the sector has helped students understand Fine Arts not only as a creative practice, but also as a discipline linked to research, communication, public exhibition, and building a professional career.
Internationalization has been another pillar of the educational project. Through the various editions of International Art Week, ADEMA has promoted conferences, workshops, masterclasses, roundtables, exhibitions, performances, and collaborative projects with artists, teachers, researchers, and curators from leading universities and art schools.
Among the institutions linked to this tour are University of the Arts London, Chelsea College of Arts, Columbia College Chicago, Leeds Arts University, École Européenne Supérieure d’Art de Bretagne, Princeton University, IUAV Università Iuav di Venezia, Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata, Accademia di Brera Milano, Royal Danish Academy, Aarhus School of Architecture, University of the Basque Country, University La Laguna, University of Málaga, among others.
One of the key milestones of this international expansion was the University Art Biennial Art Week 2025, which brought together 21 Fine Arts universities from around the world and 300 artists, emerging students, and researchers in Mallorca. This initiative placed ADEMA students in direct contact with other methodologies, languages, and ways of understanding contemporary art. The exhibition circuit has also been crucial in the training of this first graduating class. Students have participated in projects developed in national and international venues such as the Estampa Art Fair in Madrid, the Cookhouse Gallery at the University of the Arts London, the A+ Gallery at the University of Gdańsk (Poland), and the Palazzo Bembo in collaboration with the European Cultural Centre 2026, within the framework of the Venice Biennale, as well as in local venues such as the Barceló Foundation, La Misericòrdia, and the Museum of Footwear and Industry in Inca.
The specialized faculty has been another key element of the degree program. The first graduating class was comprised of professionals involved in artistic creation, university teaching, research, cultural management, curating, and contemporary production, including Amparo Sard, Joan Costa, Tomás Pizá, Concha Vidal, Jaume Reus, Tom Price, and Mónica Galván, along with other professors and collaborators.
The ceremony concluded with recognition of the 20 members of the first graduating class of Fine Arts from the Balearic Islands: Laura Bibiloni, Alba Bover, Daniela Cabezuelo, Paula Cheillada, Elena Covas, Anna Croce, Mar Font, Yaiza García, Óscar González, Andrea Molina, Rebeca Morey, Paula Muntaner, Doris Obermayr, Celia Palacios, Aina Parpal, Martina Pinosa, Valvanuz Ruiz, Margalida Serrà, Ana Maria Stoyanova, and Javier Yin. The student representative also paid tribute to their classmate Bernat Seguí.