Fine Arts (Advanced Certificate)

The Fine Arts Advanced certificate program is designed for students with a solid theoretical and technical base in the field of drawing and painting, and who want to refine their techniques while engaging in a discourse of conscious artistic reflection. Through the cultivation of a deeper understanding of art, students can develop their own expressive language which they translate into a coherent body of work to add to their professional portfolio.

The Advanced Certificate Program delves deeper into theoretical aspects and the reflection on art in the creative process. The faculty consists of professional artists and researchers who bring real-world insight into contemporary art practice and learning, as they guide students to develop an expressive language and creative voice. As the students explore their artistic identity, they are asked to also reflect and achieve a greater understanding of the major contemporary Italian, European and American artists from the second half of the twentieth century to today. Through this, they can investigate aesthetics and compositional balance as they consolidate the traditional techniques learned of drawing and painting using sanguine, charcoal, oil paints, acrylics, and watercolor. Sculpture is then introduced beginning with the basics of both traditional and modern sculpting techniques.

Advanced students personally chose from the famous Tuscan quarries a block of marble or alabaster to create two sculptures that express the structural potential inherent in a block of stone. The Program also prepares advanced students for the professional art world, including the assembly of a professional digital portfolio and creation of a user-friendly and compelling website. 

Fine Art students can take part in an end-of-semester pop-up art exhibition in Piazza San Lorenzo called ‘Art is in the Square’ in the spring and juried projects. This annual tradition of LdM celebrates our students’ cultural diversity and of Florence in the annals of art history.  

An Advanced certificate in Fine Arts opens doors to a broad range of career opportunities in areas such as commercial art gallery manager, exhibition designer, education, graphic design, illustration and fine artist.

Course descriptions are available in the Academic Catalog.

– Fully equipped studio labs
– Materials and art tools
– Computer lab
– Updated library of books and magazines