Founded in 1973 as an independent art school, Ar.Co is dedicated to the experimentation, training and divulging of arts, crafts and visual communication.
From early on in the school’s history, the alternative nature of the pedagogic project has consisted mainly of bringing together a strong emphasis on practice and a view of artistic training as a service that should “make a difference” for a public with the most diverse objectives (including that of becoming a professional artist). A variety of departments—Drawing and Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Graphic Design, Jewelry, Ceramics, Illustration/Comics, Cinema/Movement Image—possess complete professional training programs, while at the same time offering topical opportunities for introduction to a particular technical/aesthetic area, or simply professional recycling. The therapeutic dimension of a learning experience in the arts is, likewise, not forgotten.
Ar.Co also produces public exhibitions of students in advanced stages of their training and, from time to time, national or international shows of one or more area connected to its own areas of training. Ar.Co develops and maintains collaboration with public and private, national and international institutions, promoting a variety of initiatives related to the general objectives of the school (exchange programs, conferences, invitations to guest artists and lecturers, workshops, field trips, etc.).
Ar.Co is a non-profit cultural association.