Artist
Iveta Polák
Čuchtová
An artist and university educator whose work connects personal artistic practice with art education, illustration, art therapy and research into the creative process.
Profile
Between the studio and education.
Iveta Polák Čuchtová completed all three levels of university study at the Faculty of Education of the University of Prešov and now works there as an assistant professor in Teacher Training and Education Science. Before joining the university, she taught visual art at SZUŠ Dama in Prešov, working across drawing, painting and graphic art.
Her teaching profile reaches from methodology of art education to illustration, artefiletics and art therapy. Her official research/art/teacher profile also records an accredited art-therapy course completed with the Slovak Association of Art Therapists. Art is therefore not separate from education in her work: she researches the creative process, teaches it and practises it herself.
Areas of work
Creation as a process, not only an outcome.
Art education
Her research addresses the process of creating an artwork, the quality of art education and the ways educational environments can support creativity, visual literacy and individual expression.
Art therapy and artefiletics
Art therapy and artefiletics form part of both her teaching and professional background. They appear in her university teaching profile, complemented by accredited training in art therapy.
Illustration and visual communication
She works from pen and marker drawing to digital vector graphics. Visual language is not merely decorative in her practice: she has also produced the graphic design of international academic publications to which she contributed as an author.
International work
From Prešov into European classrooms.
International cooperation appears throughout her work — in teaching mobility, joint publications and educational programmes that connect art with other areas of learning.
Research & publications
Education, art and international collaboration.
2024 · university textbook
Developing Pupils’ Soft Skills in Primary and Early Secondary Education
Co-edited with Jakub Lipták, the publication lists her as editor, author and graphic designer. Its international team brought together contributors from Slovakia, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic and the book was created for an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme.
2023 / 2024 · international publication
Integrative Models of Education for Citizenship
She is a co-author of the international handbook published by the University of Burgos and the University of Prešov and also contributed its graphic design in both the first and second editions.
2024 · research article
The Process of Artifact Creation in Contemporary Art Education
The peer-reviewed study examines art education at primary level and uses the 3A methodology as a tool for reflecting on the quality of teaching.
Research projects
Original project
Stratené Dedičstvo
Stratené Dedičstvo brings together themes also present in her educational work: individual artistic expression, symbol, imagination and multiple ways of perceiving. The original series of 22 drawings expanded in exhibition form through spoken word, QR content, scents, sound and later digital animation.
“Every human work is a wonderful artefact and every individual expression is an immensely valuable treasure to me.”
Profile & sources