The use of the Art Collection of the University of Porto in teaching and research

The Art Collection of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP) mainly consists of works created in class by young artists during their learning and educational period. These works are collected primarily to provide a learning and teaching tool for fine arts students. In its formation and development, the collection has undergone significant changes. Some of these changes were caused by the affiliation of the collection to the first public art museum in Portugal, the Museu Portuense de Pinturas e estampas, created in 1833. When the Academia Portuense de Belas Artes was founded in 1836, both the museum and the academy were placed under the responsibility of the same director. Additionally, the collection suffered from the effect of national education reforms to teaching and learning methods, which influenced students’ art works and the development of the collection. However, the original purpose of constituting the art collection remains the support of fine art education and training. Throughout the last decade, our strategy has focused on the co-ordination of museum activities with the teaching and research goals of the Faculty of Fine Arts in particular and of the university in general. It has also focused on its future role as a place dedicated to cultural and artistic knowledge more closely connected with society at large. This paper concentrates on the teaching and research projects that have been developed since the official constitution of the Fine Arts Museum of the University of Porto in 1996.