The article touches upon the evolving process in late Ottoman society where women had made some important achievements, especially in education. As a consequence of these achievements and the initiatives from painter Mihri Hanım, İnas Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi was established in 1914. This institution’s merger with the Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi occurred in 1923; however, the study will not address developments that followed. After discussing the content regarding sculpture education at the school, the study will address the artistic activities of three woman sculptors who studied there. 

The school was established to allow women to receive art education and to train art teachers for secondary schools, and its education mainly focused on painting. The school conducted fulltime education there, with workshops occurring in the morning and supplementary classes in the afternoon. In addition to the workshop studies made based on the models, plaster sculptures, and ancient sculptures brought from the Archaeological Museum, open-air studies also occurred.

The education at the school also involved a sculpture workshop led by İhsan Özsoy. Although many publications are available about İnas Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi’s establishment, educational structure, and academic staff, information about the sculpture education there is disjointed, and some issues cannot be clarified. Discussing the content of this education is important, because some significant sculptors had received their sculpture education there. This article attempts to identify the content regarding sculpture education in this school. Another objective is to define those active in sculpture who’d been educated at the school. Among these names, three female artists were more prominent in artistic production and activity.

As a result of the researching archives, periodicals and resources, sculpture education is understood to have not been given separately in the school but to have taken place in a workshop under İhsan Özsoy. Works with a naturalist understanding and mostly decorative style are understood to have been made in the sculpture workshop. However, İhsan Özsoy also gave the students some technical information. The workshop also had design courses based on drawings from antique sculptures, art history courses involving information on sculpting, and anatomy courses. This workshop identified the names who would be active in the field of sculpture. Among these, Mukbile Reşad and Melek Ahmet died young; Melek Celal Sofu mostly focused on painting; and Edibe Subay, Muhsine Ahmet, and Rita Hanım became inactive after attending some exhibitions in their early career. Three names among those who attended this school and whose activities were more prominent are Saime Rezan Ramiz Öker, Sabiha Bengütaş, and Nermin Farukî. 

Although some academic articles and non-academic publications are found about these three artists, they are limited in number. This essay places these artists in the field of sculpture in Turkey and re-evaluates it by adding and developing new information and interpretations about these artists’ art education and artistic life.

Saime Rezan Ramiz Öker attended exhibitions until 1937, one being the Turkish Sculptors Exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts. She was also active as a lecturer in Kadıköy Halkevi in 1940’s. Sabiha Bengütaş worked actively as a sculptor until her death in 1992. She was the first woman sculptor to produce monumental works in Çankaya and Mudanya. Nermin Faruki was also an active sculptor until her death in 1991. Apart from her figure sculptures she also attempted abstract sculptures in the 1960s.