Since Ukraine became independent favourable conditions for the development of art and cultural education have started to evolve. In 1997 on the initiative and with a help of Lviv National Academy chancellor, academician E. Mysko, on the basis of 4 chairs of theoretical specialization and humanities the Faculty of History and Theory of Art was created. Then in a year were organized extramural courses and in 2004 appeared new 5th chair – the Chair of Art Management that gives specialized training and the graduates become professional managers in sociocultural sphere. Today the faculty consists of: The Chair of History and Theory of Art The Chair of Art Management The Chair of Foreign Languages and Literature The Chair of Humanities The Chair of Physical Education and Sport. A number of talented scientists-pedagogues, Doctors of Art, professors, associate and assistant professors work at the faculty. Thus the institution guarantees high level of training and scientific work. The academic staff of the faculty coordinates educational process among postgraduate and doctoral studies, different faculties and provides interaction with museums, galleries, archives, educational and scientific institutions. The faculty has 3 accredited programs for Bachelors’ and Masters’ Degrees: "Culture”, "Art”, "Management of Sociocultural Activities” (such specializations as "History and Theory of Visual and Decorative-Applied Art”, "Art Works Experts”, "Art Management”). The main subjects are history of visual arts, history of applied and decorative art, history of art criticism, history of world and Ukrainian culture, management of sociocultural sphere, information technology, advertisement in cultural and art sphere, marketing in culture, informational management, cultural policy and others.
More than 140 educational and work programs, manuals, test works have been worked out with the help of the faculty teachers to provide high-level teaching process at all chairs. The Students Scientific Society was successfully revived and for the last 15 years has been coordinated by the faculty. The Society is aimed to stimulate students to participate in scientific researches and exhibiting activities. In 2002 the faculty organized a specialized video class and an archive of art video newsreel. Since that time a large database of information concerning art has been accumulated and constantly updated. Since 2008 with the support of community organization "Kinovisia” the Movie club has been functioning at the faculty. Here students can learn how to write screen scripts, to shoot or montage a film etc. Academic staff regularly improves, edits and publishes methodological works. Such editions as "Museology” (2005), "The dictionary of theater terms” (2006), "Art management” (2008) have no analogues in Ukraine and are written according to modern theoretical and terminological tendencies in art worldwide and cultural society. Recently the number of research works and published monographs in art that demonstrate the advance of art criticism has been rapidly increasing. The monographs illustrate the way of research, the most important achievements and the development of art criticism etc. The main themes of the monographs are: Folk Clothing (G. Stelmashchuk, 2004), Architecture and Design (O. Bodnar, 2005), Art Education, Art of Ukrainian Diaspora (R. Shmagalo, 2005), Intellectual Property (A. Voinarovsky, 2007), a Woman in History (O. Rybak, 2002), Mychailo Boichuk’s School (Y. Kravchenko, 2010). There were compiled such dictionaries as: the dictionary of decorative and applied art (edited by Y. Zapasko, 2000), the dictionary of pedagogue artists (R. Shmagalo, 2002), the dictionary of art terms, the dictionary of theater, English-Ukrainian dictionary of art terms (M. Yakubyak, 2003, 2006, 2010). Also a number of periodicals, albums, catalogues, materials of scientific conferences are published at the faculty.
The majority of professors, associate professors are members of the National Union of Ukrainian Artists, the National Union of Ukrainian Architects, the Union of Art Historians and Critics, Shevchenko Scientific Society and others. The head leaders of the faculty and chairs are members of the Administrative Board of the Academy of Arts. The leading scientists such as O. Bodnar, G. Stelmashchuk, R. Shmagalo, O. Holubets, O. Rybak and others are members of the Specialized Academic Councils that are responsible for judging theses or dissertations in the Lviv National Academy of Arts, M. Rylsky Kyiv Institute of Folklore, Art Criticism and Ethnology, Kharkiv National Academy of Design and Arts, Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture and others. Professors and Ph. Doctors who work at the faculty are members of Editorial Board of such major specialized editions in the sphere of art criticism and culture as "Art Criticism” (the Union of Art Critics and Historians), "Visnyk LNAA”, "Art Criticism Studies” (M. Rylsky Kyiv Institute of Folklore, Art Criticism and Ethnology), "Ukrainian Monuments Studies” (Kyiv), "Polissya Studies” (Rivne Liberal Arts Institute), "Visual arts” and others. The academic staff of the faculty supervises students in their research works; train them to participate in different contests, conferences, art and educational programs.
Besides scientific work the creative work has also an important place at the faculty. Both students and teachers have organized and taken part in over 20 thematic evenings and meetings with famous personalities. Every year students organize exhibitions of creative works within the course of "Organization of Exhibitions” and participate in such projects as "Art Education in Cultural Policy of the Country of the 21st Century”, "Festival of Harmony”, "Economics in Culture. Culture in Economics”.