It starts with the
plumb line
Students at FAA use the plumb line to correctly set a point of view while taking measurements for drawing and develop their skills to observe the subject from life.
This simple but essential tool inspired the logo for The FAA Collective, a media project launched in 2018, aimed at bringing to light the art and processes of FAA faculty and alumni.
Our journey led us to create a platform to experience and participate in the vibrant realist community in Florence, Italy, today’s epicenter for contemporary realism.
“I spent decades searching for the shards of a lost tradition in painting and sculpture. Over the years, I put them back together to form The Florence Academy of Art’s curriculum. Our many talented graduates, who became the academy’s faculty, contributed to the evolution of the FAA’s teaching method by demystifying the practice of making art so that as many students as possible could learn the craft of painting and sculpture. Technology through digital formats provides a platform for educating and exciting students about these techniques, and allows us to spread appreciation for figurative art to a larger number of people than ever before.”
– Daniel Graves, FAA Founder
“I spent decades searching for the shards of a lost tradition in painting and sculpture. Over the years, I put them back together to form The Florence Academy of Art’s curriculum. Our many talented graduates, who became the academy’s faculty, contributed to the evolution of the FAA’s teaching method by demystifying the practice of making art so that as many students as possible could learn the craft of painting and sculpture. Technology through digital formats provides a platform for educating and exciting students about these techniques, and allows us to spread appreciation for figurative art to a larger number of people than ever before.”
– Daniel Graves, FAA Founder
The FAA has fostered the growth of several hundred painters and sculptors. Each of them is contributing to the ongoing tradition of figurative realism through their professional work. Now it is time to share this experience with the world through The FAA Collective.
Our goal for The FAA Collective is to bring visibility to our graduates’ careers, and to spread the culture of contemporary figurative art through video and editorial content.
Our graduates are bringing great art to the world and we want to show it!
It is the philosophy of the Florence Academy to teach in person and to work from life. Online instruction, therefore, does not substitute the multiple benefits provided by the shared studio experience, but through our formative content we hope to expand and enrich today’s knowledge on contemporary figurative art.
We use our location on the FAA Campus in Florence as the backdrop for our videos, and produce original music to immerse you into the creative space of the artists. Many of them collaborate remotely from around the world giving us the opportunity to share with you unique access to working artists through this platform. The FAA Art History Lectures are filmed in the Gallery on the Florence campus, a space that welcomes and unites our community of professional artists and students.
