Felix Kniazev and Olga Julinska

Art Department

Company Overview

Art Department was founded in New York City in 2002 by designers Felix Kniazev and Olga Julinska. Their first collection of handmade ceramics was introduced at the Atlanta Market and the New York Gift Fair in the summer of 2003. From the beginning the work of Felix Kniazev and Olga Julinska was distinguished by precise, graphic quality and high contrast vivid colors.

Sundance Catalog Company, one of their earlier clients who featured four different pieces over three consecutive years, described the work as being “innocently charming as children’s drawings”. Paulette Cole of ABC Carpet & Home became their first mentor, over the years commissioning numerous pieces to be designed exclusively for the flagship store on Broadway, notably the chakra tiles now permanently installed on every floor of the store and the magnificent two-hundred-rose chandeliers. Felix Kniazev and Olga Julinska having complete control over every aspect of design and creation allowed them to prepare custom collections for many other clients, such as Marriott Hotels, Department 56, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and Gump’s of San Francisco. These high profile accounts and many museum shops and art galleries have all helped Art Department to mature quickly from two artists with a vision into a studio with a national reputation.

Art Department has now expanded into two studios – one in Boston, MA and another in Vermont. Art Department’s Boston studio is located in the historical complex which was the original home of the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory. In Vermont Felix Kniazev and Olga Julinska own a building on top of the Northeast Mountain, 2000 feet above sea level, which is known as one of the best wind sites in the state of Vermont. Their studio there runs completely on renewable wind energy.