creative talent
For 75 years, SintLucas has been the creative vocational school for vmbo and mbo in Eindhoven and Boxtel.
The beginning of SintLucas
It is 1948 when the St. Lucas Roman Catholic Painting School Foundation is founded in Boxtel. The day school is an initiative of the Dutch Catholic Union of Painting Patrons. Members of the union, Boxtel professional painters, have been giving winter courses in the painting trade at various locations in Boxtel for years. From there, the professional course ‘advertising painting’ follows. In 1954, the Graphic School was founded in Eindhoven, where students were trained for jobs in the graphic industry as printers, bookbinder or typesetters, for example.
Whereas ‘Eindhoven’ focuses mainly on the technical side of the graphics profession, ‘Boxtel’ focuses on artisanal creativity. In fact, both courses complement each other perfectly. Yet it takes more than 50 years before they decide to join forces in one institute for, what you could call, applied creativity: the new ‘SintLucas’ for vmbo and mbo.
Creative innovation was and is in SintLucas’ DNA.
Merger
The step towards merging does come at the right time and place in 2009. Two years later, Brainport (the region around Eindhoven and Boxtel) was declared the ‘smartest region in the world’. Here, in Europe’s Sillicon Valley of knowledge, technology and design, SintLucas could not have chosen a better new location for its Eindhoven branch: Strijp-S, in the creative and technological heart of the region and an important industrial heritage site. The former Philips site is the place where revolutionary technical products such as the television, videotape and compact disc were conceived and developed.
Creative innovation was and is in the DNA of SintLucas. The courses constantly move with the creative zeitgeist and technological developments. When the computer and later the Internet made their appearance, both schools were immediately there to integrate the new and groundbreaking technology into their courses. And life-like education has been commonplace at SintLucas for decades, students learn the trade and grow as professionals with practical assignments at companies. But perhaps even more important than the education on offer, is the open culture and pleasant working atmosphere between teachers, pupils and students.
At SintLucas, teachers are not in front of the class, but among the students and pupils. The education is aimed at creating a learning experience together in which students develop a creative mindset that also enables them to think and act innovatively in later years, regardless of the (technological) toolbox they have at their disposal at that time.
Former students
Former students are therefore fans of ’their’ SintLucas. As one former student tells it: “If you met a fellow student on holiday abroad, they would toast you. The group feeling was very strong at that school. Creatively, you were allowed to do and try everything. There was a lot of experimentation.” Another former student says: “The courses were very hands on. Craftsmanship was really still hammered on. You could do something, if you came from the Graphic School.”
The atmosphere at SintLucas, in which you were allowed to discover your individuality as a student, plus the fact that you had learned ‘good craftsmanship’, took many former students far.
Among the better-known former students, you will find award-winning and internationally renowned advertisers and designers. Former Lucassians, with their knowledge of creativity and technology, work for companies such as Walt Disney and De Efteling. Others have made a name for themselves in the international gaming world.
The current generation at SintLucas also grows up in the same learning environment that inspires and challenges them with teachers who give them the self-confidence to ‘make it’. Getting the diploma is not the main goal, the development of their personality, their professional network and a convincing portfolio comes first.
75 years of creating opportunities
SintLucas exists 75 years! The mission of SintLucas has been the same from the start, guiding talented young people towards a bright future. By now, some 26,000 students already have the honorary title of Sint! Not only pupils and students are given opportunities to develop. This also applies to employees and external partners. 75 years of Creating opportunities!
The atmosphere at SintLucas, where you were allowed to discover your individuality as a student, has taken many former students far.
