Creative return: How Natalie Istenich inspires Lienz with art

Creative return: How Natalie Istenich inspires Lienz with art

Natalie Istenich, a committed artist and teacher at BORG Lienz, has completed an impressive career in recent years full of creative initiatives and loving ties to her homeland, East Tyrol. Her studies in artistic education and craftsmanship at the Mozarteum Salzburg, which she completed from 2011 to 2017, were particularly formative. While she was still a student, she appeared in the series “Homesick?” about their strong ties to their homeland. At the age of 23, Natalie began to realize her passion for art through teaching.

In 2015, she received a call from a teacher that led her to take on a sabbatical replacement at BORG Lienz for the 2015/16 school year. This substitute position, which soon turned into a permanent position, was initially challenging as she was only five years older than her students. This experience inspired her to continually develop her teaching style. In 2023, together with her colleague Claudia Planegger, she took over the “Performing Game” department, whose continued existence she ensured with great commitment. The “TIME OUT” musical, performed by over a hundred students and whose performances were sold out in March 2025, is considered a further success of their teaching work.

Artistic activities and exhibitions

Natalie is not only active as a teacher, but also as an artist. Her works primarily deal with the human body and play with aesthetic color combinations. She draws with a focus on minimalist lines that describe the body in its simplicity while preserving its expressiveness. These drawings serve as the basis for her larger acrylic paintings and for translating lines into color and surface. Looking back, she describes how she wishes she could be braver and have more confidence in herself.

Another highlight of her artistic work was the exhibition “einSein”, which she organized together with her father and Silvia Ebner in the Anras nursing home in the fall and which combined acrylic paintings with literary texts. Creative expression is central to Natalie, and she plans to set up a studio with her father to create more space for her personal art.

Community and creative spaces

Natalie appreciates the sense of community and the supportive atmosphere in East Tyrol, where she spends a lot of time doing leisure activities. In parallel to her art work and teaching, she also explores other creative opportunities, such as the open workshop in Frankfurt, which offers people a space to work in community and try out their artistic skills. This workshop regularly hosts group activities focused on techniques such as sewing, knitting and crocheting, and uses materials from different areas to produce environmentally conscious and creative products.

Each of these creative pursuits and experiences reflects Natalie's passion for art and her deep connection to her homeland, which is evident in her commitment to students and in her own artistic practice. Further information about Natalie Istenich and her art can be found on her website. In addition, the open workshop, which gives teams and individuals the opportunity to develop creatively, is described on kreativwerkstatt-ffm.de.