In the centre of Cherkasy, on a Dnipro-facing hill above Zamkovy Uzviz, stands the historic building that once housed the First Ministerial Male Gymnasium and now serves as the old wing of the Cherkasy Music College named after S. S. Hulak-Artemovsky. The building is traditionally attributed to architect Vladyslav Horodetsky and represents a fine example of local Art Nouveau architecture with Neo-Romanesque features. The idea to establish the gymnasium emerged in early 1891 during a meeting of the Cherkasy City Council. Rudolf Hammer, a German-born engineer, manager of the Cherkasy Sugar Factory, city council member, and active public figure, proposed that the design and construction be entrusted to the young architect Vladyslav Horodetsky. At that time, Horodetsky was still a student of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, serving as an assistant to architect and military engineer Lieutenant Colonel Chekmaryov of the Kyiv Educational District.

Hammer and Horodetsky were friends, and Vladyslav had already visited Cherkasy several times. Despite his young age, he had already designed and built the two-storey building of the Uman progymnasium. On March 17, 1891, the city council officially commissioned Horodetsky to design and oversee the construction of the gymnasium. During the Soviet period, the building changed its function – the gymnasium was reorganized into secondary schools and other educational facilities. In 1961, a music school was established in Cherkasy, which later occupied the historic gymnasium building after reconstruction. In 1986, the school was named after Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, a renowned Ukrainian opera singer and composer. Today, it is a prominent music college offering several specialities: piano, string and wind instruments, choral conducting, vocal, and music theory.