History

Künstlerhaus Lukas is one of the oldest artists' residences in Germany. In 1894, the prominent country house was built by landscape painter Paul Müller-Kaempff (1861-1941) as a private art school called "St. Lucas." At that time, the school primarily attracted female artists because access to art academies was still restricted for women.

The "St. Lucas" house served as the nucleus of the Ahrenshoop artists' colony around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. The nearly untouched landscape between the sea and lagoons attracted landscape painters such as Elisabeth von Eicken, Friedrich Grebe, and Anna Gerresheim. The remote and far-from-the-city Ahrenshoop and the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula were a haven for many artists and intellectuals like Otto Dix, Max Pechstein, Gerhard Marcks, and Uwe Johnson in the first half of the 20th century. Between the two World Wars, the Künstlerhaus served as a refugee shelter and a hair salon but always remained a place for art.

During the GDR era, Ahrenshoop became the "sea bath for cultural creators" – a Baltic Sea idyll for the cultural elite of the country. In 1979, the "Haus Lukas," as it was then called, became the property of the Kulturfonds of the GDR and primarily provided stays at the Baltic Sea for artists from the theater and film sectors, such as Heiner Müller.

After the reunification of Germany, Künstlerhaus Lukas, along with Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf, was financed by Stiftung Kulturfinds of the new federal states. Since 1994, artists from all over Germany and Europe have been supported with scholarship stays at Künstlerhaus in Ahrenshoop. In the early years of the residency program, it was led by theater scholar Ursula Hahlweg-Elchlepp, literature scholars Gwendolyn Mertz and Ursula Vogel, as well as artist Inga Rensch. Inga Rensch expanded the focus on collaborations with countries around the Baltic Sea and expressed the interdisciplinary artistic practice of the Künstlerhaus through the EDITION HOHES UFER AHRENSHOOP, which was operated jointly with the Neues Kunsthaus.

In 2004, due to capital losses, the Stiftung Kulurfonds had to cease its funding activities and was liquidated. Künstlerhaus Lukas faced closure. However, in 2005/06, thanks to the takeover of the scholarship program by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the new sponsorship by the "Künstlerhaus Ahrenshoop e. V." association, it was able to continue its support activities with modifications. Following the change of sponsorship, the long-time director and founder of Neues Kunsthaus Ahrenshoop, artist Gerlinde Creutzburg, established a scholarship exchange program with partner institutions in the Baltic Sea region and Iceland. Since October 2021, cultural scientist Olivia Franke has been directing the international artist-in-residence program.