Nearly two decades later, in December 1947, the Saint Bernulphus Foundation succeeded in establishing an institute for advanced education in fine art based on Catholic principles in Maastricht.

The institute is named after the painter Jan van Eyck, born in Maaseik, not far from Maastricht, and considered a suitable role model for Catholic artists.

The institute's main objectives were to further and expand art education in the broadest sense of the word, although the deed also clearly stipulated that the students should be trained in their art practice for tasks in the service of the Catholic Church, which involved the reconstruction, restoration and decoration of churches destroyed in the war.

The Jan van Eyck Academie initially took up residence in the former Sepulchrine church and convent (Bonnefantenklooster) in the Jekerkwartier neighbourhood in the center of Maastricht.

Consultations concerning the latter soon ran aground because the board of governors insisted on the Jan van Eyck Academie remaining a private institute, based on catholic principles.

The two men drew a master plan that emphasized the Maastricht academy’s need for a clear statement of principles and a well-founded program.

When in 1966 the Dutch Minister of Culture, Maarten Vrolijk, opened a new wing adjacent to the existing building, he praised the Academie for being outstandingly fitted out: there was a studio for metal working, a welding workshop, a carving studio, a foundry for bronze molding, a pottery kiln and means were provided to work with new synthetic materials.

Students of the mixed media department could make use of the timber workshop, the welding shop, the photo studio, the darkrooms, the silk-screen print shop, the audio and video studio, and the foundry to produce a single work of art, an installation, a performance or an action.

Extra-curricular activities, work placements in the art milieu, and other projects reached beyond the Academie's community.

In 1980, Ko Sarneel, became acting director and proposed a 5-year plan, which entailed an increase in the scope and quality of projects and manifestations for the public at large.

The artist John Körmeling, alumnus of Eindhoven University of Technology, transformed the building into an 'art factory' for twenty-four hours.

The ribs and diagonals of this imaginary building were visualized within and through the existing one by means of laser beams that concurred high up in the sky.

Two years later, Ko Sarneel resumed his previous function as head of the mixed media department, and William Pars Graatsma became director.

In 1980, Scottish video pioneer Elsa Stansfield was asked to create a Time Based Media Department at the Jan van Eyck Academy, Maastricht.

The horizontal organizational structure of the institute ensured mutual interchange and interaction in the disciplines of architecture, sculpture, photography, graphics, painting, video-audio and mixed media.

The Jan van Eyck Academie in the 1990s, can be described as a venue for practical and theoretical reflection on art and society that went beyond generally accepted values.

were expected to have attained a practical and theoretical level that allowed them to make contributions to discussions, to do research and to engage in multi- and trans-disciplinary activities.

They initiate and supervise research projects, but their tasks also include programming, selection, studio visits, lectures, seminars, presentations and institutional and policy matters.

Essential in the new organization is that the institute is an open meeting place for people: artists, thinkers, readers, curators, writers, designers, poets, dreamers, workers, and occasional passers-by.

Through the Hubert van Eyck Academie it will be possible to set up PhD tracks for artists, in partnership with the European Graduate School in Saas Fee (Switzerland).

In May 2017, the alternative name Caterina van Hemessen Academie was added, paying homage to the homonymous Flemish Renaissance painter.