Established as an institution to promote and value local talents, the Mureș Association of Plastic Artists has grown in quality and quantity over the 30 years of its continuous existence, turning from a spontaneous cultural movement oscillating between art and craft into an important cultural environment for the spiritual and artistic life of the Mureș area. Art clubs and painting circles appeared ever since the 1960s and 1970s within institutions such as IMF Tîrgu- Mureș, sponsored by Trade Unions, the Trade Unions Cultural Club, the Students' Cultural Club or by undertakings such as Prodcomplex, Azomureș, UJCM, the Sugar Factory etc. Ever since 1975 personal or group exhibitions of Mureș artists were organized at the Apollo hall, at Prodcomplex, on the hallways of the Trade Unions Cultural Club, the County Library and other locations, entitled County or Inter-county Salons. On January 30, 1977, during a work meeting, a group of artists – painters, sculptors, ceramists – had the initiative of uniting their creative efforts within a common institutional framework. As a result, with the support and under the patronage of the Mureș County Centre for Folk Art (its name changed over time) and following the decision of the Mures County Council, on April 2, 1977 the “Association of Amateur Artists and of Folk Art Creation of the Mureș County” was legally established. The “Unirea” hall became more than a seat of the association, and more than an exhibition hall: it became a place of culture and education. It is never on holiday, and "artistic events" in the true sense of the word are presented to the public bi-monthly merging visual arts with poetry, music, drama and even dancing. These moments of spiritual enlightenment echoed by the public and the mass-media made it possible for valuable art works to enter the public circuit and be purchased by collectors, local art lovers and foreign tourists. 

Bibliography:

Prof. Erica Alecu,  Scurtă istorie a Asociației Artiștilor Plastici Mureș in “Artiști plastici mureșeni”