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Night Courses

The relation between the quantity of training programs and the spaces available leads, in the school’s initial years, to a sequential organization of classroom sessions, that function without interruption. A lot of the activities meant to complement classroom and studio training (performances, concerts, movies, etc.) can only take place at night. Although there is mention in 1975/76 of “Development Courses” (Painting, Graphic studio, Photography and Cinema) scheduled between 9.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m., the political decision to open Night Courses as part of the school’s training program only comes at a later stage. These courses are conceived as an option for the working publics, unavailable for regular day courses, but also aim at reaching other age groups, mostly looking for a hobby, that might be intimidated by the full program’s demanding character and by the assumption that continuity is necessarily implied in day training. In 1995/96 there are already Night Courses in Drawing, Painting, Photography, Jewellery and Art History and Theory. In the second semester of 1997/98, Photography’s Night Course will create two different levels, so as to provide the opportunity for a deepening of the studies in this hour scheme. A similar formula will be adopted in 1999/2000, for identical reasons, in Drawing, Painting and Jewellery. A live model drawing class is also added in that same year and, in the second semester, Ar.Co opens the first Night Courses at the Quinta de S. Miguel in Almada (Ceramics, Photography, Painting and History and Theory of Art). A Night Course in Illustration begins in 2001, a second level being added in 2003.


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    Leaflet announcing Night Courses, 1996.

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    Night Courses, Illustration, 2006. Illustration by Tiago Albuquerque.

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    Exhibition of works from the Night Courses. Ar.Co Lisbon, 2010.

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    Exhibition Drawing and Painting Night Courses, Ar.Co, Lisbon, 2011.

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    Exhibition Drawing and Painting Night Courses. Ar.Co, Lisbon, 2008.