Our story

The story of the Swedish Academy of Realist Art actually began in Florence, Italy, where the founders of SARA, Hans-Peter Szameit and Sanna Tomac, first met in 1996.  Both were then attending the Florence Academy of Art, where Hans was also asked to teach while still a student.  After their studies in Florence, they had the opportunity to study with the painter Odd Nerdrum for a short time, and were the first painters with an academic training background to study with Nerdrum.

In 2000, they moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the United States, which was Hans’ birthplace and where his family resided. They set up a business there, called Pantura Studios, where they each had their own studio and could work at creating their art, full time. Though things were going well, Hans missed teaching, and being aware that the kind of traditional academic art training they had enjoyed was very rare, they both decided to accept some students, free of charge, and help them on their journey to become artists. The number of students grew and soon they had seven students from all across the US and even one from South America. Eventually, the needs of the students required such a significant amount of their time and attention that they could not continue teaching free of charge.

They continued with Pantura Studios, painting and teaching, until 2006. They had both missed Europe, and so decided to move themselves and their two young children to Sweden, which was Sanna’s home country and where her family lived. Since there was no traditional academic art training anywhere in Scandinavia at the time, and they felt strongly that it should be available, they decided to open the first such school of its kind in Stockholm, Sweden, called Atelier Stockholm. The school was small in the beginning and had only 12 students, but eventually expanded to 30 when the school moved to a new location. Students came from all over the world, and the school’s reputation grew. While in Stockholm, Sanna was commissioned to paint a ceiling in Bååtska Palatset, which was built in 1669.  The ceiling painting was 7x 4 meters and was unveiled/inaugurated in the presence of the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustav, among other distinguished guests.

Atelier Stockholm continued until 2015, when the building in which the school was renting space was sold and the academy was forced to move. Widening their search for a new location to areas outside of Stockholm, the region of Skåne, and particularly Österlen, became very appealing for many reasons. These reasons included a lower cost of living, more relaxed lifestyle, rich culture, great natural beauty, and close proximity to another cosmopolitan city, Copenhagen, Denmark, just two hours away.

A beautiful, 19th century building was located in Simrishamn, which perfectly suited the school. Atelier Stockholm was dropped from the school’s name and The Swedish Academy of Realist Art was adopted. Although no longer a couple, Hans and Sanna are both involved and invested in the school and working to ensure its continued growth and success.