Experience the Printing Revolution Scuola Internazionale di Grafica

study abroad in venice

Venice Art Workshops for School Trips and Groups

Venice, the Printing Press, and Liberal Arts

During the Renaissance, Venice emerged as the European capital of the publishing industry—a city where the printed word and image transformed knowledge dissemination across the continent.

Through our demonstrations and hands-on workshops dedicated to the history and practice of the printing press, students in the Liberal Arts have the opportunity to encounter Venice not only as a subject of study but as a site of creative re-engagement.

These workshops encourage students to connect historical inquiry with tangible artistic processes, fostering a deeper understanding of the cultural and intellectual legacies of the city.

Venice Art workshops for school trips and groups

Workshops for Studio Art Students

Our workshops for Studio Arts students are grounded in both tradition and contemporary practice. Participants are introduced to a range of printmaking techniques that reflect the historical richness and ongoing evolution of the field.

The curriculum includes intaglio processes such as drypoint and hardground etching; relief techniques like linocut; and planographic methods including monotype. Each workshop is led by experienced artist-educators and offers structured, studio-based learning in a professional environment.

Scroll down for further details on workshop structure and academic integration.

for beginners

Group visit to a traditional printmaking studio

  • 90 minutes visit and demonstration
  • Group Fee: €300,00
  • Students admitted: max 22+ 2 accompanying professors

Led by one of our instructors, students are introduced to the tools, presses, and working environment of a traditional Venetian printmaking studio. A life-size reproduction of Jacopo de’ Barbari’s bird’s eye view map of  Venice serves as a starting point for discussing the city’s central role in Renaissance publishing.

The visit includes a presentation of selected artists’ books from the Scuola’s collection and concludes with a live demonstration using the Scuola’s historic presses.

This will be followed by the presentation of a selection of artists’ books from the Scuola’s collection

The visit will end with a demonstration of printing a matrix with the ancient presses of the Scuola.

for beginners

The Printed Image

  • 3-hour immersive Workshop
  • Group Fee: €600,00
  • Students admitted: max 16+ 2 accompanying professors
  • Materials are provided by the Scuola

Recommended for students in Architecture, Art History, and related fields, this workshop begins with a guided observation ofJacopo de’ Barbari’s iconic bird’s eye view map of Venice currently displayed at the Museo Correr.

Students then produce their own relief print using the linocut technique, drawing connections between the historical cartographic method and the fundamentals of printmaking.

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for beginners

The Printed Text

  • 3-hour immersive Workshop
  • Group Fee: €600,00
  • Students admitted: max 16+ 2 accompanying professors
  • Materials are provided by the Scuola

This workshop introduces students to the basics of letterpress printing.

Participants compose words using movable type, learn to set the forme to proper page dimensions, and operate a manual press.

Each student produces two impressions, gaining insight into the historical techniques of textual reproduction and the material culture of the Renaissance press.

for art students

Monotype

  • 4-hour immersive Workshop
  • Group Fee: €750,00
  • Students admitted: max 16+ 2 accompanying professors
  • Materials are provided by the Scuola

This workshop explores monotype, a technique that combines the immediacy of drawing with the discipline of printmaking. 

Using unengraved plexiglass plates, students apply inks to produce one-of-a-kind impressions. The process emphasizes spontaneity and experimentation.

At the Scuola, we use sustainable inks, offering a wide range of bright colors without the need for solvents.

All materials, including sustainable inks, are provided.

Venice Art Workshops Study Abroad at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica

for art students

Drypoint and Chine Colleé

  • 4-hour immersive Workshop
  • Group Fee: €750,00
  • Students admitted: max 16+ 2 accompanying professors
  • Materials are provided by the Scuola

In this workshop dedicated to the drypoint non-acid technique, we will engrave on a plexiglass plate to learn a versatile and contemporary process.

Students will use traditional tools such as the needle and more experimental materials such as sandpaper, among others. The different pressure exercised in the engraving will create the ‘burrs’ that characterise the drypoint marks. We have revisited an ancient process in a modern and sustainable key thanks to the use of plexiglass plates and soy oil-based inks, which are washable with water and soap.

Chine-collé, a technique involving the application of colored or decorative paper, will enhance the prints with added color and uniqueness, enriching the work.

for art students

Sustainable Hardground Etching

  • 6-hour immersive Workshop
  • Group Fee: €1,000,00
  • Students admitted: max 12 + 2 accompanying professors
  • Materials are provided by the Scuola

 

The sustainable approach to Hardground Etching, based on continuous research on more eco-friendly and less toxic materials, enables us to create prints without using solvents, acids, and other products that harm the environment.

Our instructors will guide students to process the zinc plates, from the polishing and bevelling to the application of the BIG paint, and finally, the completion of the hardground etch and print.

Students will use a blue stone, utilise a mordant classified as less toxic, and complete a small print on Fabriano printing paper with washable soy-based inks.

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Venice Art workshops for school trips & groups

Health & Safety in the Laboratories

The Scuola uses sustainable inks that do not rely on chemical solvents. The studio adopts a green approach to all processes and practices.

Our staff provides qualified assistance in the laboratories.

The Scuola is wheelchair accessible and a health-safety certified school and laboratory.

All safety, hygiene and health facilities on our premises have been inspected and approved by local authorities.