The building of today’s Voivodeship House of Culture in Kielce (WDK – Wojewódzki Dom Kultury w Kielcach) was created on the initiative of a social committee established by the inhabitants of Kielce and took the name of the Committee for Military Training and Physical Education. It was designed by Edgar Norweth, who at that time offered Kielce a very impressive facility. The building was put into use in 1936.

Immediately after the liberation from Nazi occupation, various agendas of the provincial and municipal offices were moved to the building, but there was also a place for a municipal club, which was soon given a slightly pompous name – the House of Culture and Art. In 1947, the first Świętokrzyskie Days of Culture were organized here and the cultural activity in this facility dates back to that year. Two years later, the name of the institution was changed to the Provincial House of Culture of Trade Unions. The first amateur groups have already worked here. An important date in the history of WDK was 1957, when the facility became a center of instruction and methodology for all local institutions and its profile has changed. The Voivodeship House of Culturehas become a staff training center for county cultural institutions. The sixties saw the development of our own artistic groups, gathering a group of representatives of creative circles in WDK, and organizing cultural events for the inhabitants of Kielce. Kielce WDK has become one of the leading institutions of this type in Poland, becoming laureate of nationwide festivals several times, winning the first nationwide exchange of club programs, poetry theaters, cabarets, and stage groups were successful. Cultural activists from all over the country came to Kielce to learn how to conduct artistic and mass events at WDK. Only by the year 1972 fourteen different forms of artistic improvement were organized in WDK, thirty different types of artistic events, about twenty art exhibitions, over two hundred training trips to cultural and educational institutions operating in the Kielce Province. There were ballet, dance, art and theatrical campfires, a rhythm section, an accordionist band, a photoclub, and an amateur film club. The information and publishing department published the periodical “Informator kulturalny”, the “Propozycje” newsletter, catalogs, conducted bibliographic documentation and sociological researches.

In 2008, the Cultural Information Portal (Portal Informacji Kulturalnej) was launched. The website of the portal contains cultural information, photographs, descriptions of monuments, tourist attractions, biographies of interesting and extraordinary people, descriptions of interesting cultural events, topics related to art and tourism of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and folklore. In December 2008, the cinema resumed regular activity in the Voivodeship House of Culture, thanks to which it is possible to systematic film education by presenting the achievements of Polish and European cinematography. The hall has nearly 500 seat capacity.

WDK continues to conduct comprehensive cultural and educational activities, information and publishing, organizes a number of festivals, reviews, exhibitions, competitions, concerts and cultural events, organizes seminars and workshops, art workshops, conferences. It documents, creates, protects and makes available cultural goods and provides information about cultural events in the region. It creates conditions for the development of the amateur art movement and supports cultural initiatives. One of the tasks of WDK is also the protection of tradition and cultural heritage as well as the promotion and dissemination of film creativity and culture. WDK cooperates with educational institutions in the field of children’s and youth artistic movement, as well as national and foreign institutions in the area of ​​organizing and co-organizing cultural events. WDK employees also conduct trainings for instructors and animators of cultural institutions.

The entities operating in WDK:

– “Kielce” Song and Dance Ensemble (Zespół Pieśni I Tańca “Kielce”)

– “Uśmiech” Dance Stage Team (Zespół Inscenizacji Tanecznej “Uśmiech”)

– Marshal’s Brass Orchestra (Marszałkowska Orkiestra Dęta)

– “Sen” Art Theater (Teatr Plastyczny “Sen”)

– “Charleston” Dance School

– “Scyzory” Urban Folklore Band (Kapela Podwórkowa “Scyzory”)

– Garrison Choir

– Vocal studio

– “Senior Show” Group

–  Theater workshops

– Youth Vocal Ensemble “Wonderland”

– “Fenomen” cinema

– Cultural Information Portal (Portal Informacji Kulturalnej)

– “U Strasza” Art Gallery

Collector’s and flea markets are organized in WDK every second Saturday of the month.