Lithuanian national self-conscious movement in the beginning of the twentieth century awakened the creative powers of the people. On the 9th of January 1907, 235 various folk art exhibits together with other prominent artists’ works were gathered and showed at the joint exhibition at Mr. P. Vileisis house in Vilnius. Those were the first steps of Lithuanian folk art which passed selection to exhibition halls with a clear vision to reveal the uniqueness of Lithuanian folk art. Decades proved that when united Lithuanian folk artists managed to achieve better results in developing Lithuanian culture. During the period from 1945 until 1966, Lithuanian folk artists, united by manufacturing facility Daile and Lithuanian Creative Palace, were quite visible and active.

On the 1st of March 1966, Lithuanian People’s Art Society (presently name changed to the Union of Lithuanian Folk Artists) was established, which united such sections as choir, theater, folk music, folk art, choreography, into one place. Since 1968 Lithuanian People’s Art Society limited its activities only to folk art, that is why in 1989, in the year of national identity and independence movement, it was a logical step forward to change the name of this organization into a more precise definition for the “folk art” from a very wide definition of “people’s art”.

Nowadays, the Union of Lithuanian Folk Artists (ULFA) have over 2’000 members. ULFA has six regional branches all over Lithuania. These regional branches are the places for gathering for various folk artists expressing themselves in weaving, sculpture, wood working, basket weaving, graphics, painting, ceramics, smith works, jewelry, traditional arts. The Union actively stands for the copyrights of its members, participates in the European Council of Artists. During a year ULFA organizes around 150 events: creative and theoretical seminars, plenary meetings, exhibitions of various genres, painting days, competitions, fairs, etc. ULFA funded the collection of the best folk art pieces with the intention to exhibit them with the idea to promote Lithuanian folk art. The pieces from this collection were exhibited in Ireland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Poland, Mexico, Russia, Sweden. Books “ULFA Collection of Exhibits. Sculpture”, “ULFA Collection of Exhibits. Painting. Graphics” were published. During the period of ULFA existence around fifty sculptural sets were created in Lithuania. Most well known of these are “The Road of M.K.Ciurlionis” in Druskininkai, “The Hill of the Witches” in Juodkrante, “The Battle of Zalgiris (Grunwald)” near Kaunas, etc. Most typical for the Lithuanian tradition folk artists are mentioned in the World Encyclopedia of Naive Art. In 1997 the first issue of “Folk Art Chronicle” was published. Monograph series about most outstanding ULFA members was launched. The books “Monika Biciuniene”, Stanislovas Riauba”, “Petronele Gerlikiene” were published. The Union makes international projects in the European Union and this proves that it is a reliable partner for creative and educational activities. Every five years state-wide survey exhibitions are organized which show the continuity and trends of folk art traditions.