Programmes

FULL PROGRAM PAINTING 2025/2026

Heads of Department: Marcelo Costa

Full three-year programme aiming at the development of the technical and conceptual/authorial dimensions in painting. A diversified learning process leads to the widening of the participants’ cultural, technical, and artistic horizons. Practical and thematic exercises promote the development of the students’ observation and representation skills, while encouraging an experimental attitude regarding ways of making and the use of materials (oil and acrylic paints, gouache and watercolor, chalk and pastel, India ink, etc). Individualized modes of expression should translate the participants’ gradual familiarity with the main questions concerning contemporary artistic creation. Personalized attention is paid to each student’s progress, followed in a continuous manner by teachers and confirmed in formal evaluations with the head of department. In each of the three levels of the course, the main objective is to produce an abundant personal portfolio.
Options for further development: Individual Project, Advanced Course in Visual Arts or other.


Staff: Alexandre Camarao, António Marques, Francisca Carvalho, Gonçalo Pena, Hugo Bernardo, João Catarino, João Miguéis, Madalena Parreira, Manuel Caldeira, Manuela Falcão, Marcelo Costa, Margot Vilaça, Pedro Calhau, Pedro Sousa Vieira, Pedro Barateiro, Pedro Tropa, Tiago Lança and guest teachers.

Dates 7 Oct 2025 to 26 Jun 2026
Duration Annual
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa

Dates 6 Oct 2025 to 26 Jun 2026
Duration Annual
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa

Fee 10 x 230€ + 200€ (Enrolment) + 4,50€ (Insurance) (for enrolments up to 15th september)

Admission
Painting Level 2 or recognition of equivalent training (through interview). Presentation of portfolio.
The possibility of entering the program at a later date in the school year will only be considered exceptionally and after a selective interview with the Heads of Department

Disciplines

Notes

Materials not included, More information in the Student Guide:https://arco.pt/site/en/student-guide/enrolment-and-fees

Attachments schedule

Dates 7 Oct 2025 to 19 Jun 2026
Duration Annual
Location Ar.Co Quinta de São Miguel, Almada e Ar.Co Xabregas, Lisboa

Fee 10 x 230€ + 200€ (Enrolment) + 4,50€ (Insurance) (enrolments until 15th September)

Admission
Painting Level 2 or recognition of equivalent training (through interview). Presentation of portfolio.
The possibility of entering the program at a later date in the school year will only be considered exceptionally and after a selective interview with the Heads of Department.

Disciplines

Notes

Materials not included, More information in the Student Guide:https://arco.pt/site/en/student-guide/enrolment-and-fees


At the end of Painting 3 the Certificate for the Full Programme in Painting is issued. Option of further development through application to Individual Project, Advanced Course in Visual Arts, or other.

Attachments schedule

Date 21 Nov to 19 Dec 2025
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.

Price 80€ + 8€ (Enrol) + 0,75€ (Ins)

Schedule Fridays from 14h to 16h30

Type occasional

Program
On-campus classes
Execution of a medium format oil painting accompanied by experimentation and development of a small series of works where the pictorial nature of the decisions will become evident.

Teachers

Date 9 Jan to 13 Feb 2026
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.

Price 170€ + 7€ (Insc) + 2,50€ (Seg)

Admission No requirements. By order of enrolment.

Schedule Fridays from 14h to 16h30

Type occasional

Program
On-campus classes.
Experimental development of small series of work inspired by some art historical movements, from rococo to the various avant-gardes. We will appropriate ways of seeing and doing, attitudes, creative processes, types of image construction and of relationships between images.

Teachers

Date 7 Oct 2025 to 26 Jun 2026
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.

Price 10 x 170€ + 170€ (Insc) + 4,50€ (Seg) (for enrolments up to 15th september)

Admission Level 1: No requirements. By order of enrolment.

Schedule Tuesdays and Thursdays 20h to 22h30 + Wednesdays 20h00to22h00 (on-premise or on.line, every tolher week,)

Type annual

Program
Drawing and Painting I
On-campus.
7 Oct 2025 to 18 Jun 2026
Tuesdsays and Thursdays 20h00-22h30
Teachers: Hugo Bernado, João Catarino, João Migueis, Marcelo Costa and Margot Vilaça.
The Evening Course in Drawing/Painting follows the general pedagogical orientations of the standard daytime course, providing a more diversified training and a quicker widening of the students’ cultural, aesthetic, and technical horizons. Teachers will likewise attend to the students’ progress in a personalized and differentiated way. Within this context, practical and thematic exercises help promote the students’ capacities for observation and representation as well as the development of their expressive skills. Emphasis on experimentation in what regards both working modes and materials (oil paint, India ink, gouache, charcoal, oil pastel, graphite, etc.) ensure that students will gradually acquire an awareness of the more relevant questions regarding contemporary artistic production. Progress is closely followed by teachers and confirmed in formal evaluations with the presence of the head of department. For each level of the Course, the main objective is the constitution of a portfolio that is both abundant and as personal as possible.

Live Model Drawing I
On-campus classes.
14 Oct to 9 Dec 2025
Tuesdays from 20h to 22h
Teachers: Hugo Bernardo, João Catarino
Live Model Drawing is the situation of observation drawing par excellence, where the study of the human body (in motion, at rest, posing, etc.) and the experimentation with different techniques, scale, lighting and modes of composition promote an understanding of the mechanisms of attention and of the gaze that lie at the very core of the drawing gesture.

Lab I (drawing/painting)
On-campus classes.
15 Oct 2025 to 17 Jun 2026.(every other week)
Wednesdays 20h -22h
Teachers: Marcelo Costa and/or guest teachers
Relevant themes within the context of school experience will be discussed. Topically, practical exercises are proposed. The program also includes contributions by guest artists and theoreticians, guided tours and other activities important for the development of a personal aesthetics and an individualized style. Some sessions will be intimately related to, and articulated with, the program of Drawing and Painting I.


Live Model in Drawing II
(on-campus)
24 Feb to 28 Apr 2026
Local: Ar.Co – Xabregas
Horário: Tuesdays 20h00-22h00
Teachers:Hugo Bernardo and João Migéis
Live Model is the situation par excellence of observation drawing, where the study of the human body (in motion, at rest, posing, etc.) and the experimentation with different techniques, with scale, lighting and modes of composition promote an understanding of the mechanisms of attention and of the gaze that lie at the very core of the drawing gesture.

Artistic Residency
(on-campus)
22 to 26 Jun 2026
Location: P28 - Associação de Desenvolvimento Criativo e Artístico, Pavilhão 31 - Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Av. do Brasil n.º 53, 1700-063 Lisboa
Horário: Monday to Friday 10h00 às 17h00
This residency aims at the development of each student’s individual work, at the end of the school year and in a close relationship with the working place. The program will end with a public exhibition of the results obtained.

Notes

The Evening Course promotes the development of technical and artistic skills in the areas of Painting/Drawing. Further development options: Level 3 of the Standard Course in Painting or Drawing, Advanced Course in the Visual Arts, Individual Project or other.
Students will always be notified in advance in case of a change of date and/or time or attendance regime.

Teachers

Notes

Materials not included, More information in the Student Guide:https://arco.pt/site/en/student-guide/enrolment-and-fees

Enrolment form: https://arco.pt/site/download/pdf/108

Date 8 Oct 2025 to 26 Jun 2026
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.

Price 10 x 160€ + 170€ (Enrolment) + 4,50€ (Insurance) (for enrolments up to 15th september)

Admission Drawing and painting night course 1 or interview.

Schedule Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 20h to 22h30 (see full programme)

Type annual

Program
Drawing and Painting II
On-campus
8 Oct 2025 to 17 Jun 2025
Wednesdays 20h to 22h30.
Teachers: Alexandre Camarao and João Miguéis
The Evening Course in Drawing and Painting 2 differs from the previous year in two fundamental aspects: a more specific orientation of the experimental dimension, promoting a growing individualization of the students’ work; continuous studio practice, complementing the classroom sessions. As was the case in the previous year, evaluation of the student’s progress is at once continuous (the responsibility of teachers) and formally confirmed several times a year in the presence of the head of department. All throughout the year, participants are expected to build an individual, abundant and consistent portfolio..

Printing Workshop: Printing techniques
on-campus
14 Oct to 9 Dec 2025
Local: Ar.Co Xabregas
Teacher: Madalena Parreira
Tuesdays from 20h00 to 22h30 (every other week)
The workshop will explore the techniques of etching, aquatint, and linocut. The technical work is preceded by the presentation and discussion of the works of contemporary artists-engravers and by the execution of drawings and preparatory studies.


Lab II
On-line + on-campus classes
16 Oct 2025 to 11 Jun 2026 (every other week)
Thursdays 20h00-22h30
The program includes sessions where relevant themes within the context of the school experience are discussed. Topically, practical exercises are proposed. There will be contributions by guest artists and theoreticians, guided tours and other activities, important for the development of a personal aesthetics and of an individualized style. Some sessions will be intimately related to, and articulated with, the program of Drawing II.

Workshop: Construção 3D
on-campus
Data: 6 Jan to 10 Feb 2026
Local: Ar.Co, Xabregas
Horário: Tuesdays 20h00 to 22h30
Professora: Manuela Falcão

Workshop: Projecto b
on-campus
Data: 24 Feb to 16 Jun 2026 (every other week)
Local: Ar.Co - Xabregas
Horário: Tuesdays 20h00 to 22h30
Professor: Pedro Barateiro


Artistic Residency
On-campus
22 to 26 Jun 2026
Location: P28 - Associação de Desenvolvimento Criativo e Artístico, Pavilhão 31 - Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Av. do Brasil n.º 53, 1700-063 Lisboa
Horário: Monday to Friday 10h00 às 17h00
This residency aims at the development of each student’s individual work, at the end of the school year and in a close relationship with the working place. The program will end with a public exhibition of the results obtained.

Teachers

Notes

Materials not included, More information in the Student Guide:https://arco.pt/site/en/student-guide/enrolment-and-fees

Date 9 Oct 2025 to 15 Jun 2026
Location Ar.Co – Antigo Mercado de Xabregas, Lisboa.

Price 10 x 160€ + 170€ (Enrolment) + 4,50€ (Insurance) (for enrolments up to 15th september)

Admission Drawing and painting night course 2 or interview.

Schedule Mondays and Thursdays from 20h to 22h30 (see full program)

Type annual

Program
Evening Course in Drawing and Painting III
On-campus classes
9 Oct 2025 to 11 Jun 2026
Thursdays 20h00-22h30
Location: Ar.co - Xabregas
teachers: Pedro Calhau and Pedro Sousa Vieira
Orientation of the students’ work is highly individualized, approaching the model of tutorials. Thursday classes are more dedicated to this type of orientation, promoting an informed and up to date attitude. Wednesday and Friday classes have a more theoretical character, aiming to stimulate and contextualize the individual work of each student.

Lab III (Drawing/Painting)
On-line or on-campus classes.
13 Oct 2024 to 15 Jun 2026
Mondays 20h00-22h30
Location: Ar.Co - Xabregas
Teacher: Marcelo Costa, Pedro Calhau e Pedro Sousa Vieira
Relevant themes within the context of the school experience will be discussed. Topically, practical exercises are proposed. The program also includes contributions by guest artists and theoreticians, guided tours and other activities, important for the development of a personal aesthetics and of an individualized style. Some sessions will be intimately related to, and articulated with, the program of Drawing and Painting III

Guest Artists (Night)
28 Jan, 11 Mar, 6 May 2026
Location: Ar.Co – Xabregas
Wednesdays 20h00 às 22h30
Artists visit the 3rd grade students' studios to comment on and analyze their work.
Teachers: Francisca Carvalho, Manuel Caldeira e Pedro Barateiro

Notes students will always be notified in advance in case of a change of date and/or time or attendance regime.


The Evening Course promotes the development of technical and artistic skills in the areas of Painting/Drawing. Further development options: Level 3 of the Standard Course in Painting or Drawing, Advanced Course in the Visual Arts, Individual Project or other.

Teachers

Notes

Materials not included, More information in the Student Guide:https://arco.pt/site/en/student-guide/enrolment-and-fees

Attachments Schedule