Drawing and Painting

Students are considered graduates when they have successfully finished all assigned projects. The Florence Academy of Art is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Students may earn credits towards a U.S. degree.
Applicants may request advanced standing upon entry. Faculty will assess and determine the applicant’s level during the portfolio review. Only applicants who have attended similar atelier style schools, and who have completed the same drawing exercises as those required by The Florence Academy of Art Intensive Drawing curriculum, will be considered for advanced standing. Applicants who are granted advanced standing must spend enough time in the Academy’s drawing and painting programs to absorb the principles, methods and ideology espoused by The Florence Academy of Art. Therefore, the last entry point in the curriculum for all applicants, and the first required exercise, is a cast in charcoal and white chalk on toned paper.
Program faculty may concur to waive specific exercises thereby allowing a student to fulfill graduation requirements without completing all of the curriculum’s exercises. This decision will be based on the performance of the individual student and will be monitored closely by the faculty to ascertain that the student has understood the concepts and is able produce work at the standards required by they program.

Student and graduate work is also affected by the faculty, who are chosen from the best of our student body. Each year, three to five graduates are invited to remain for a fourth year as Graduates in Residence, and as teaching assistants in the Intensive Drawing Program and the Sculpture Drawing Program. Over time, some become Principal Instructors, and eventually Program Directors. The academy is therefore sustained by a group of committed artists whose instructional language is unified by their common background, but each brings his or her individual voice to the critique.

Ramiro Sanchez, the Director of the FAA’s Advanced Painting Program, says the following about building a student’s skill base:

“As the program challenges individuals to push their technical ability beyond their perceived capacity, they develop strength of character and the confidence necessary to be a professional painter. This helps to create a state of mind in which they are certain of their choices. Our graduates will never stand in front of a blank canvas and feel lost. They will always be able to return to the method. They will never say how am I going to do this, but rather concentrate on what they want to say, and follow their inspiration.”