The (Music Institute) in Baghdad is considered the first nucleus for  establishing of the most important scientific edifice in Iraq which teaches art in 1936, and it aimed to spread artistic and musical culture. In 1940,the name was changed to (Institute of Fine Arts), and there are many branches add to it  like acting , directing, drawing and then sculpture were added to it, to study the diploma. In 1958, the idea of establishing the (Higher Academy of Fine Arts), which was adopted by (Dr. Khaled Al-Jader). In the academic year 1958-1959, the Education Ministry established the Academy, and chose a building for it located in the Bab Al-Moadham area . It consists of only two parts:

    The Department of Cinema (which studies the arts of cinema and theater), and the Department of Painting (which studies painting and sculpture), then the building was transferred to the Al-Adhamiya Corniche area on the Tigris River near the Residence Directorate.during that period, academic management was undertaken by: 1- Dr. Khaled Al-Jader. 2- Jassim Al-Aboudi 3- Dr. Ali Al-Zubaidi 4- Dr. Aziz Shallal Aziz

     the first course at the Academy of Fine Arts  graduates in1963-1964,  from Cinma Department were:   (Adel Daoud Salman Al-Tamimi, Diaa Shehab Ahmed Al-Bayati, Rasim Alawi Al-Jumaili, Amal Ali Dia Al-Din, Farouk Krikor Ohan, Najib Rafael Arabo, Bassam Faraj Allah Al-Wardi, Emmanuel Rassam Yaqoub, Qahtan Muhammad Ahmad Al-Qaisi, Romeo Youssef, Muhammad Youssef Al-Janabi) .  while the first  graduates from Painting Department  , they were: (Laila Al-Attar, Hashem Aziz Karumi, Salem Al-Dabbagh, Aziza (Jordanian), Lutfi Najm Al-Din, Ali Talib, Yahya Al-Sheikh, Badri Al-Samarrai). it was attached to the Baghdad University in 1967.

  The university was headed by (Dr. Abdul-Aziz Al-Douri), as (Hafiz Al-Droubi) was  first dean. The duration of the study there in became (four years) granting a bachelor’s degree, under the university order No. (15866)  issued on 5/5/1967 for establishing the Academy of Fine Art with its two departments (theatrical arts and plastic arts) There was no teaching staff with higher degrees to teach at the Academy.

  This necessitated issuing instructions to grant the teachers of the Institute of Fine Arts artistic titles such as (Art Professor), (Assistant Professor of Art), (Art Teacher), (Assistant Teacher of Art), that tital  depending on the years of service in the state departments for each of them,  the first one how gets the titles was: Ismail Al-Sheikhly and Faeq Hassan, who were get the title of art teacher, Faraj Abbou, who get the title of assistant professor of art, and Sami Abdel Hamid, who get the title of art teacher, The first council of  Fine Arts Academy of Baghdad University  was formed as follows:

1 . Mr. Hafez Al-Droubi – (Associate Professor of Art), Dean of the College, Chairman of the Council

2 . Mr. Ismail Al-Sheikhly – (Art Professor) Head of the Fine Arts Department

3 . Mr. Asaad Abdul Razzaq – (Assistant Professor of Art) Head of the Department of Dramatic Arts

Mr. Faeq Hassan – (Art Professor). Mr. Jassem Al-Aboudi – (Art teacher) Mr. Muhammad Ghani Hikmat – (art teacher).
Mr. Sami Abdel Hamid – (art teacher) Associate Dean for Student Affairs As for the first generation of teachers in the college, it consisted of: First: Theatrical Arts Department: 1- Badri Hassoun Farid. 2- Sami Abdel Hamid. 3- Jaafar Al-Saadi. 4- Ibrahim Jalal. 5- Jassem Al-Aboudi. Second: plastic Arts Department:

 1- faik Hassan. 2- Ismail Al-Sheikhly. 3- Ismail Fattah al-Turk. 4- Faraj Abbou. 5- Muhammad Ghani Hikmat. 6- Muhammad Al-Hasani

7- Hafez Al-Droubi 8- Khaled Al-Jader ,Successively, the academic departments were created, one after the other.  In 1982, the Department of Audiovisual Arts was est ablished, headed by Dr. Abdul Mursal Al-Zaidi, with his specializations: cinema, radio and television. A number of Egyptian professors were employed to teach in its departments.  In 1983, the Department of Design was established with its specializations: Interior, Industrial, Printing and Textiles, and then the Department of Art Education in 1983,  and Musical Arts in 1988, and the Arabic Calligraphy and Decoration Department in 1997.The name of (Fine Arts Academy  ) was changed to (College of Fine Arts) in the mid-1980s.

It currently occupies three buildings distributed in the Al-Waziriya and Al-Kasra area. It includes the first main building (Deanship and Administration), as well as the departments of plastic arts, audio-visual arts and design. The second building incl udes sections (Education Art, Musical Arts, Arabic Calligraphy and ornament) and the third building (theater department)All scientific departments have witnessed continuous processes of consolidating their scientific performance, developing their capabilities and providing them with scientific teaching competencies, providing scientific supplies for developing the student’s capabilities in proportion to the goals set for them, and constantly updating their curricula and vocabulary in line with the movement of scientific development in various disciplines.