 In 1921, after Mark Chagall departed, she became the school's director.Together with Malevich and his students, Ermolaeva developed the organization UNOVIS (Creators of the new art) – a society that positioned itself as a research laboratory focused on studying the development of art and artistic form.In 1920 and 1921, Ermolaeva's work was shown at UNOVIS exhibits in Moscow and in 1922 in Berlin.