Departments
In 1973/74, the term “department” designates both the areas where different contents are distributed and organized in more or less multi-disciplinary packages (Art, Image, Theoretical Studies, Design), and the different ways to obtain an oriented and continued training (in which case Design would be, at the time, the only true department). Outside this initial structure there were short term Open Courses, Youth Sessions, semiannual Introduction Courses and the intense and vast programming of cultural activities and periodical performances aimed at complementing the training. In 1976/77, the 4 areas structuring the semiannual Training and Learning Courses - Fine Arts, Audiovisuals, Photography and Graphic Workshop - are called “sectors”. From then on, it becomes clear that the classification of areas as departments, sectors, workshops, ateliers, etc. corresponds to the the school’s wish (that little by little becomes a reality) to provide somewhat specialized training horizons, implying the idea of continued programs in given areas. The delimitation of these central areas that progressively get structured does not prevent Ar.Co from conceiving the training process as eminently ecclectic, transversal and open to diverse and personalized options in terms of the participants’ enrollments. An example of this is the Studies Plan in Arts and Visual Communication (6 semiannual units) that emerges as one more option in 1978/79 and includes training experiences in several “sectors” (which are also “ateliers” but do not exaust the entire list of those, and that may not be the same ones every year). Not only the number of sectors varies, their names keep changing: in 1980/81 Graphic Design becomes Graphic Drawing and Wood is no longer listed as a sector (the same happening, two years later, with Audiovisuals and Printing). In 1983/84 the training/learning sectors acquire a relative stability and, being basically areas of practical training, change their name to “workshops” (even if autonomous areas emerge that are not workshops, such as Art History and Theory, created in 1986/87). The tendency will be to consider that sectors or departments must offer the possibility of a structured and continued experience in their respective areas, so that training can advance from basic to “complete”. In 1987/88 Ceramics joins the list of Workshops (Drawing, Graphic Drawing, Sculpture, Photography, Art History and Theory, Goldsmithing and Painting) and in the following year all of these finally take the name of Departments. Glass will eventually be added to the list (Initially together with Ceramics but becoming autonomous in 1989/90) and Goldsmithing becomes Jewellery. In 1992/93, the Advanced Course in Photography and the Advanced Course in Visual Arts are mentioned along with the departments, of which they constitute relatively autonomous extensions (implying a more formal and demanding selection process and more of a profession-oriented approach to their areas, as will also happen with the “Adanced Seminar in Communication Design” between 1995 and 2001, or the “Advanced llustration Seminar” in 1999/00). From the 1990’s onwards terms such as “Centre” or “Workshop” (when it refers to a program and not merely a training unit) will designate technical services or highly specialized training areas that are either meant as a complement to the departments’ training programs or constitute eminently experimental areas (Glass, Printing, Video, Typography). In 1999/2000 Illustration ceases to be a course subject in Drawing to become a full department, changing its name in 2001/02 to Illustration/Comics. In 2004/05 the Video Centre becomes the “Video/Sound and New Art Media” department, whose name changes in 2005/06 to “Vídeo/Audio and New Media” and in 2007/08 to “Cinema/Movement Image”. The years of economic crisis as well as the rising competition bring the Graphic Design department to an all-time low in 2013 and the board of directors decides to close the department, while keeping the typography studio in the Quinta de S. Miguel, Almada. Basic training in Sculpture too is no longer sustainable and the board closes the department in 2014. The practice of sculpture, however, remains possible in the more advanced programs such as the Advanced Course in Visual Arts or the Individual Project.
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Promotion sheet - 10 Years of Ar.Co, 1983.
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Promotion sheet - 10 Years of Ar.Co, 1983.
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Promotion sheet - 10 Years of Ar.Co, 1983.
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Promotion sheet - 10 Years of Ar.Co, 1983.
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Promotion sheet - 10 Years of Ar.Co, 1983.
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Promotion sheet - 10 Years of Ar.Co, 1983.
