The State Hermitage Youth Education Center The State Hermitage Youth Education Center The State Hermitage Youth Education Center (Russian: Молодёжный образовательный центр Государственного Эрмитажа), is a contemporary art education program in Saint Petersburg, Russia that is part of The Hermitage Museum. The program is offered for all students, whether from St. Petersburg, other Russian cities or from abroad. Activities include lectures on the history and theory of art, exhibitions of contemporary art, masterclasses, and access to Museum curators and collections. There are also special semester programs for students studying from abroad. State Hermitage Youth Education Center organizes a number of international festivals and cultural programs on
Hermitage Museum imperial collections were enriched by Greek and Scythian artifacts excavated within the Russian Empire. Between 1840 and 1843, Vasily Stasov redesigned the interiors of the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage. In 1838, Nicholas I commissioned the neoclassical German architect Leo von Klenze to design a building for the public museum. Space for the museum was made next to the Small Hermitage by the demolition of the Shepelev Palace and royal stables. The construction was overseen by the Russian architects Vasily Stasov and Nikolai Yefimov in 1842–1851 and incorporated Quarenghi's wing with the Raphael Loggias. In 1851, in Venice the