Happy birthday, Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli
Ninety-eight years ago, on 22 January 1922, the “Professional School for Mosaicists” was inaugurated in Spilimbergo, at the Bevilacqua barracks, now the Corte Europa.
It was the first school “for the teaching of the Art of Mosaic” in Italy, capable of providing workers with “the education and elements of culture indispensable” for their profession.
The founders, Lodovico Zanini, delegate for Friuli of the Società Umanitaria and Ezio Cantarutti, mayor of Spilimbergo, knew well that the new institution would certainly not reduce the number of emigrants, but could give them a job, a qualification of skilled skilled workers. to differentiate them from bricklayers and general laborers. We thought about the dignity of these young people, mosaicists and terrace makers who, far from Friuli, deserved to be treated like the local workers, adequately paid and socially considered, as they are capable of operating independently.
The School was followed by general culture lessons (corresponding to the fourth, fifth and sixth grade programs, a French language course, in anticipation of work abroad) and art and drawing. The many hours of practical training flanked the theoretical lessons.
This attention to “doing”, to learning through experience, has therefore characterized the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli since its origins and still differentiates it, making it an excellence.
