Nanjing University of the Arts is the only comprehensive art school in Jiangsu Province and the earliest independent art institution nationwide and continues up to the present. It's formerly known as the Shanghai Pictorial Art Academy, founded in 1912 by the founder of Chinese art education, Mr. Liu Haisu and his art friends. The school is located in the main urban zone of Nanjing, where the history and the modern are mixed together, and is located in the urban cultural circle of tradition and fashion. To the South is the legendary stone city, to the north is the scenic Gulin Park, to the east is fast and convenient Huju Boulevard, to the west is the oar-splashing and lantern-illuminating Qinhuai River Scenic Belt. The campus environment is quite graceful and well-arranged with ancient buildings full of cornices and carved beams and modern buildings fill with crisp and smooth lines and unique style. 

    The school obtains the right to grant the doctoral and master degree for all five A level subjects under the Art category, the Art Theory, Music and Dance, Drama and Film Studies, Fine Art and Design in 2011. In 2012, all five A level subjects of Art Studies were selected as key disciplines of the 12th Five-Year Plan of Jiangsu Province and five post-doctoral research stations were approved. Art Studies (A level subject) is the cultivating center of Jiangsu Province for national key subject and superior subject in the Universities of Jiangsu Province. The Fine Arts is the cultivating center for the national key subject. Chinese Painting Technique, Oil Painting Technique, Design Basis and Chinese Art History are the national excellent courses. The Animation Major, Art Design Major, Painting Major and Musicology Major are the construction center for the national specialized major. Art Design Major and Fine Arts are the experimental area to cultivate the national innovation talents in the college. Digital Media Art Experimental Teaching Center is a national experimental teaching demonstration center. Art Design Materials and Technology Laboratory is Key Laboratory in the universities of 13 Jiangsu Provincial  brands and specialized majors in Jiangsu Province (including construction center) including Music Performance (Chinese musical instrument performance), Art Design, Painting, Composition and Composition Technique Theory, Musicology, Fine Arts, Industrial Design, Acting, Sound Recording Art, Costume Design and Engineering, and Drama 7 provincial-level Experimental Teaching Demonstration Centers (including construction center) including Arts and Crafts experimental teaching laboratory, digital audio teaching laboratory, print art experimental teaching center, film and television production experiment teaching center, industrial design experiment teaching center, modern sculpture comprehensive material experiment teaching center, virtual reality art practice education center.

    There is an Art Research Institute with 14 research centers in the school. Zijin Wenchuang Research Institute, established in Mar. 2016, is the first batch of key high-level Think Tanks in Jiangsu Province. The school also has some performance groups like experimental band, youth dance troupes etc. Art and Design, Music and Performance are the nationally-published academic journals, all of which are National Core Chinese Journals, of which Art and Design was selected as the source of CSSCI journals in 2014. In the past 10 years, teachers and students of the school have won awards like the Outstanding Achievements Prize of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, The National Top 100 Doctoral Dissertations, the Gold Award in National Art Exhibition, the Gold Award in Golden Bell Award, the Gold Award in Wenhua Award, the National Vocal Music Competition, the Dance Award Tao Li Cup and the National University of Arts show etc. At the same time, more than 400 works and more than 5,000 papers have been published, which have been approved by the national major projects, national key projects and provincial scientific research projects.

    Nanjing University of the Arts forges ahead in unity and keeps moving on and nowadays it has become a comprehensive high-level art institution with complete subject category and diversity of education level, rich teaching resources and advanced teaching facilities because of its cultural nourishment in the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties and under the economic strength of Jiangsu province.