When the idea to institute the school was invented, the local government gave room from the Arvola House that the school could start. In the first decades of the school most of the students were from Liminka. Nowadays students come from all parts of Finland. Some of the students have later been Members of Parliament or even ministers.

Location of the Folk High School	The yard map

The smaller building of Arvola had a teacher's apartment and four rooms for students. In the 1960´s the building went to a very bad condition and nobody could live there anymore. In 1967 a smaller building was restored to the new home to the principal. To the bigger Arvola building was added with a second floor with a weaving room, a sewing room and apartments for a janitor and a teacher of handicrafts. There were eight rooms for the residence of girls in the new floor.

Buildings of Arvola

When the first semester began, there were much more students than it was expected. They needed more space. On the 15th of November 1895 the school got a new building. That still wasn't enough, the necessity of new classrooms was immense. In 1902 the school got a new building, which finally was finished in 1907. At first there was a kitchen, a dining room, handicraft classes for girls and boys, and after a couple of years the upstairs was built for student residences. Nowadays the ground floor is a classroom for the visual arts.

On the 2nd of May, 1927 the school bought the building of Arvola. In March 1939 they started again to build a new building for the sculpture and bakery. It was finished on the 26th of September, 1939. The World War II was going on at that moment. The school did not start at that autumn. It took about 5 years before they could use the new building to teaching. Instruction discontinued because of the Winter War and Continuation War. The school buildings were used by the armed forces. The Army gave the area back to the Folk High School on the 10th of December, 1944. The school work started again on the 22nd of January, 1945.

In 1958 a new sauna was built, because the old sauna burned on a fire in the spring 1957.

In the first decades the subjects taught at the school were for example cooperation and farming. The aim was to prepare students to be good farmers and housewives. After 1962 subjects changed. The folk high school created new courses: folk dance, first aid, driver's education and good manners. Also the teaching of literature was increased.

An art piece made by the students

After 1962 they started to plan a new curriculum which concentrated on arts with the result that the summer courses were started. The intention was to amplify the interest of arts among the students.

On sunny summer days the cooks used to serve coffee in the park of the folk high school. The principal came to talk to the campers. Once he asked if there would be people who would like to come to study that kind of subjects the whole winter. The students were interested in the idea. They started to plan new courses. The principal went to Helsinki to ask permission to start the art school from the National Board of Education. They were allowed to start the school in 1966. The school hired a new teacher for the art school. In the first semester there were eleven students. The first main subject was drawing. After that came painting and graphics.

The art school got new premises and more students. New courses were started in the eighties, for example ballet, theatre and stained-glass painting.

In 1982 the school got the new main building and dormitories. In 1983 all the buildings were renovated.

The new main building of the Folk High School

Nowadays the principal of the art school is Mr. Ari Karvonen. The school board has six permanent members and three vice members. In these days the school is a very popular, lively and widely known art school, and many of its students have got fame and success.