“Satka Beyond ART-Satka” is a walking route. It “collected” everything most interesting and amazing that makes the town modern and intimate. You can walk from one place to another. All of its landmarks are presented in the original brochure with a map, diagrams and brief information about “Places Worth Seeing”. It was created together with the Higher School of Economics and submitted to ART-Satka, the creative public space, and the Magnezit Museum on the eve of the New Year.

The opening of ART-Satka, the creative public space, in August 2020 undoubtedly became the most significant and outstanding gift for all Satka citizens. Guests of the town also liked this unique center for social, cultural and intellectual leisure activities. Every day ART-Satka welcomes visitors and holds several events. Of course, taking into account the current circumstances, all safety and prevention measures are observed. More than 12,6 thousand children and adults visited the space between August and December. We come up with and implement new projects together with a small and wonderful team. “Satka Beyond ART-Satka”, a walking route, and its original brochure, created together with the Higher School of Economics, are among them.

“ART-Satka, opened in August 2020, now is a “center of gravity” for citizens and tourists, a place for recreation and intellectual leisure activities.

The creative public space is located in South Ural State University Branch, at the address: 6, ul. Proletarskaya. It has administrative buildings, educational institutions, art objects, parks around, i.e. it is a very good location, in the heart of Satka’s social life,” the information page of the brochure informs, “Here you can enjoy the magnificent atmosphere of an intimate town, where modern urban facilities together with historical and cultural heritage of the Soviet past form an ideal balance. This is one of the reasons that inspired the creators of ART-Satka.

We invite you to discover most remarkable artistic events for the last five years. You will see how they are embedded in architecture of XX century and renovated urban infrastructure.”

You can start an exciting journey from any route point that is indicated on the map and described in the “Places Worth Seeing” section. All landmarks are located close to each other: the splendid Magnezit Community Center, Proletarskaya, the renovated central street, Devyatnar, a historical block of standard Soviet housing, Satka “Road of Life”, the Magnezit museum. And, of course, places widely known, created during the international festivals My Satka, Satka Street Art Fest and residences of the Ural Industrial Biennale.

You can plan the route based on your plans and preferences. It is not necessary to go from one place on the map to another sequentially. Even a glance at the modern Satka landscape around the new art space gives a sense of changes occurred. They transformed the industrial Ural city into a creative capital of the Chelyabinsk Oblast.

We wish you a pleasant journey and new experiences.

***

"ART-Satka" is the unique public space, combining educational and creative components. Here you can rest, read a book, spend time with friends or work on your project. ART-Satka offers lectures, seminars, film screenings and many other events. 

The library space is regularly replenished with books from major publishing houses and museums, universities and culture centers of embassies of various countries. 

Master classes as well as participation in creative programs are conducted at the art space on a daily basis. Both children and adults can attend ART-Satka events. Moderators will work with young visitors while parents are involved in creative activities.

The art space is friendly to physically challenged people. It leaves no room for boredom and formalism. ART-Satka is a Satka source of creative strength, club and educational center, all in one place.

Photo by Elena Subbotina. 

Representatives of regional and mining and metallurgical public interest associations for the disabled, as well as local office of All-Russian Society of the Deaf, gave a high evaluation of accessible environment in “Art-Satka”.

This February participants of the regional tournament for intellectual games among people with disabilities representing disabled people of the mining and metallurgy area visited the Art-Satka creative public space for the first time. At the time Satka held a regional round of intellectual game “What? Where? When?” among teams of Kusa, Zlatoust and our town.

- Chairman of the Satka Society of the Disabled, Vladimir Yefanov, invited us to hold the tournament in Art-Satka. He told us that a wonderful unconventional public space which was very accessible for people with disabilities opened there. We decided to check the place out, especially since there was a lot of young people taking part in the tournament, and youths often like to explore new things, – said Irina Fedorenko, member of the Administrative and Planning Department of Chelyabinsk Regional Public Organization of All-Russian Society of the Disabled, who organized the regional tournament (this project was awarded by the Presidential Grants Fund). From an expert point of view Irina gave an assessment of public space accessibility starting from the entrance. The first excellent review was given to the ramp. According to the expert opinion, the ramp is well-made in conformance to all standards applicable to such structures, and at the end of the climb, at the entrance, there is a help button.

- All pathways inside the building are sufficiently wide, so that people of wheelchairs can move conveniently, and feel comfortable during events, especially in the conference hall. Now there is less space for moving between racks, but everything is portable and easily adapted for any tasks, so it’s not a problem to provide enough comfort. All is well thought-out and meticulously crafted, with consideration to all types of visitors, – noted Irina Fedorenko. To visit such a space is a first for us. If we were to compare with other territories, similar things are available only in large cities, in Chelyabinsk or Magnitogorsk, where we have recently visited an environmental park. But the park only has coffee-shops with special conditions. There is no public space, unlike here. Speaking of which, there is one more important thing for organizers of an away event: we can not only properly hold an event here, but also provide meals. We are currently waiting for delivery from one of the local canteen, and the conference hall has temporarily turned into a diner. It’s very convenient! Thank you for the invitation and for helping to hold the intellectual game tournament. All the participants are happy!

This was also confirmed by winners of the tournament – members of Kusa team “Three Rams and a Goat” (the name was created based on star signs of the members – three Aries and one Capricorn). Team captain Lialia Shamsiyarova said that was not the first time she played intellectual games, including national-level tournaments, so she often had to travel to other cities. However, it was her first visit to Satka. She and her friends had no time to look around the town, but they have a great impression of “Art-Satka”:

- It’s awesome! Everything is great, starting from the entrance, ramp, WCs, to interior decorations. It’s a place to enjoy with family and children, - said the guests from Kusa. We should come here again, and have fun in town on the way, especially in the evening. It’s easy to navigate here, but the town is not accommodating to disabled people, we had a hard time finding the way here. The locals gave directions like “Go to Sputnik”, but we have no idea, what it is. We did not see it on any signposts.

- Regional tournament of “What? Where? When?” is the first large-scale event which continued out cooperation with “Art-Satka”, – the topic was picked up by Vladimir Yefanov, Chairman of the Satka Society of the Disabled. We head a lot of fun here. All guests liked it here, and they thanked us for inviting them to such a magnificent event. They said to invite them again, as they will be glad to return here. It’s hard to discuss future plans due to the current limitations, but we are always ready for new proposals. Moreover, this place is 100% available to people with disabilities and is comfy and beautiful. Our Society holds a lot of events of different nature, and the venue for some of them will probably be “Art-Satka”. I’m sure that out cooperation will be fruitful, and we will be able to actively participate in the events held here.

While people from Kusa and other neighbors of Satka inhabitants are planning their next visits, representatives of local societies for the disabled do not miss out on their unique opportunity to have fun in the gorgeous space. People of the local office of All-Russian Society of the Deaf (ARSD) have already become frequent guests and welcomed friends of “Art-Satka”. Some days ago Tatiyana Shadskaya, Chairperson of the ARSD, sent a letter to Yelena Subbotina, Director of the creative public space, with a very amicable and grateful review of bright and artistic atmosphere of the Center:

- We love everything about your space! It has awesome accessible conditions for education, leisure and creative time for everyone, including people with disabilities, which is very important, – said the letter of T. Shadskaya. One can watch subbed movies, take part in workshops covering a variety of creative topics and hobbies (e.g. some time ago we have visited a pottery workshop, a workshop for making decorations out of ribbons, had fun playing board games). We can even bring children to the workshop. It’s crucial, as some of our members are parents with children from 1 to 5 years old and they cannot leave them home alone. There are wonderful teachers and nannies looking after them in “Art-Satka”. Members of our Society lack communication and new knowledge, but they are very skillful. So for them visits to creative activities are very interesting. We try to follow advertisements of “Art-Satka”, as every meeting there brings about unforgettable memories and rich emotions. Thank you for great work, positive emotions and creativity, to all the employees and people who took part in creating such a remarkable public space in our town! We wish you new successes, all the best to you and your families.

From the Magnezitovets web resource. Photo by Anna Filippova and Vasily Maksimov.

“We want to have the same creative space in our city,” the young activists of Chelyabinsk and Ozersk dream and take the first steps toward the dream. This is one of the results of the visit of the participants of the recent urban activism festival “Do This!” and educational programs of the School of Urban Pioneers (SUP) and the Urban Initiatives Foundation held on May weekends to Satka.

More than three dozen urban activists from Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and other cities took a walk around Satka, visited the Magnezit Museum, the Art-Satka creative public space and Porogi. 

Despite the busy day, the guests spent nearly two hours to get acquainted with the corporate museum of the Magnezit Group: they explored everything it offers and literally fired various questions at the museum staff: from the field of development and production of refractory materials to the environment and social programs. The museum space and its content were very impressive, the young people pointed out various features: both the panoramic models and operating equipment items, interactive capabilities, the “quest with infographics”, the possibility to get acquainted with the history of Magnezit and the city, the book library and “plenty of opportunities for selfies and photos/videos to keep the memory...” 

The hospitable and creative Art-Satka impressed the guests even more with the discussion “The Art of Social Rotation: From a Stranger to the Community.” First, the guests got acquainted with the story of Art-Satka from the idea to its implementation and the realities of today. It turned out that many follow the posts of Art-Satka on social networks, and they do not only friendly envy the residents of our region but also are eager to open a similar space in their city. Thus, the representative of the organizing committee of the festival, the assistant professor of the social work, pedagogy and psychology department of the South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University Galina Yaroslavova noted that the experience of the Satka residents is ready to be adopted in Ozersk, where urban activists plan to create a similar public space also in a former university branch. 

The participants of the trip keep sharing their impressions and emotions from the Satka trip on their pages on social networks: “Satka. The expectations were fully met despite the long distance. We got to know the city and found out how it manages to develop dynamically. Many things caught the eye,” says Svetlana Grishina. “One of the implemented projects is the block of residential buildings at the entrance to the city, which is decorated with different colors and trims. The buildings are toylike, it’s very beautiful. The facades of many buildings were painted by famous artists, the murals have a very interesting meaning. Generally, everything that concerns the uniqueness of the city is supported by souvenirs. This is a good decision: people understand the value of the city (both its residents and visitors).”

This weekend was the completion point in the creative take-over activity which had lasted for a number of months – Satka.Lab School of Modern Folk Art completed its activities implemented with the assistance of the Governor of the Chelyabinsk region, who had issued the grant.

The lectures and workshops held by the Laboratory had been attended by almost 2000 people for the four months of its functioning.

- The Project does not say good-bye to the residents and guests of the Satkinskiy district. In this period the participants found new friends, cooperated efficiently and organized their own community, where everyone could share their findings or successes, says Elena Subbotina, the director of Art-Satka, which hosts the laboratory. - All the pieces of art created in the School of Modern Folk Art now wait for the installation at the exhibition – it is planned to show them to the wide audience already in January.

In the nearest time, the creative team of the School plan to make a small collection of useful materials and links, which will always be available to the participants in their creative work.

We also plan for the meetings in cinema and photo arts laboratories, in the local lore lecture hall, we plan telling the audience about the unique events and landmarks of our region, organizing professional growth trainings and other events.

OUR INFO:

The Satka.Lab project was launched on September 1, 2022 and is implemented with the help of a grant from the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region (Fund for Support of Civil Initiatives of the South Urals) received by the Satkinskiy District Development Assistance Fund.

This interdisciplinary laboratory is a set of regular and free activities for the residents of Satka with the aim of developing and introducing modern forms of education and promoting culture and art for the organization of leisure, preservation of cultural and creative heritage and development of the potential of city residents.

Satka.Lab works with well-known materials in a new format. Each course begins with a lecture on the features of the material (embroidery, ceramics, wood, calligraphy, dolls, etc.), which turns into a workshop.

This week Art-Satka creative public space celebrated its third birthday. 

Opening of Art-Satka turned out to be a significant event in the city, a big and bright present for all of its residents. Not only Satka residents, but also guests of the city (including foreign guests) like this unique center for social, cultural and intellectual leisure activities. Every day the creative space is ready to welcome its visitors. More than 96 000 people attended it over the last three years. More than 4 000 different events were conducted within this period. They include master classes, meet-the-artist events, laboratories, training seminars, cinema premieres, etc. Many a time, Art-Satka itself became a film set, a scene, a concert hall, and an exposition.

We congratulate the tightly-welded team of Art-Satka on its birthday! We wish you new, bright, and challenging projects, unquenchable energy, and success!

OUR INFO:

Art-Satka creative public space was established by Sobranie Fund by means of the grant issued by the President of the Russian Federation. The project is being implemented with the assistance of the Satkinskiy District Development Support Fund, the Satka District Administration and the Magnezit Group.

Art-Satka is the unique public space, combining educational and creative components. Here you can rest, read a book, spend time with friends or work on your project. Art-Satka offers lectures, seminars, film screenings and many other events.

The library space is regularly replenished with books from major publishing houses and museums, universities and culture centers of embassies of various countries.

Master classes and creative programs are conducted at the art space on a daily basis. Both children and adults can attend Art-Satka events. Moderators will entertain young visitors while parents are involved in creative activities.

The art space is friendly to physically challenged people. It leaves no room for boredom or formalism. ART-Satka is a Satka source of creative strength, club and educational center, all in one place.