Gathered in this web page a lot of useful information otherwise scattered all over our web-site.


IL BISONTE FOUNDATION
Head Office: via Giardino Serristori, 13r - Secretary Office: via San Niccolo', 24r
50125 - Firenze - ITALY
tel. +39 (0)55 2342585
fax. +39 (0)55 2346768
e–mail: info@ilbisonte.it
http://www.ilbisonte.it
Codice Fiscale: 94121180486
P. IVA: 05494380487
Juridical Person file number 433 in the Tuscany Region Registry Office

STATEMENT
The International School of Specialisation in Printmaking ‘Il Bisonte’ offers courses in the traditional techniques of printmaking, following the old tradition of artistic skills and craftsmanship of the printing workshop established in 1959. The School puts at the disposal of its students tools, stella presses - at which over two hundred contemporary artists have worked - a three-thousand-volume library, photographic archives with thousands of slides and colour photographs, and the archives of the works carried out in the Stamperia and in the School.

SUMMARY OF THE COURSES
Il Bisonte offers courses of several length:

MAIN COURSES
Short - 200 hours course
In depth - 600 hours course
Professional Qualification - annual course - 1400 hours - 3° level of European qualification standard
For the Introductory, In depth and Specialization course we accept enrolment even in varies time of the year, for the Professional Training the beginning time is January.

BASIC COURSES AND CUSTOMIZED COURSES
To be set up in agreement with the School Direction

All the courses are open to a limited numbers of participants in order to guarantee personalised tutoring, and are tailored for students with a previous artistic background.

Attending the 1400 hours Professional Training course will grant the “engraver-printer” certification awarded by the Region of Tuscany and recognised by the European Union (III° level).

The works realised by the students of the School are shown in the End-of-the-Year Exhibition and published in a catalogue.

STUDIO SPACE AND PREMISES
We have several studios:

Room 1
4 Hot plates
3 etching presses
1 etching press - electro-powered
1 water basin for the paper
25 students seats

Room 2
3 Hot plates
3 etching presses
1 lithographic press - electro - powered
1 water basin for the paper
20 students seats

Room 3
1 Hot plates
2 etching presses
8 students seats

in the courtyard:
4 acid basins - different graduation
1 aquatint box (colophony)
1 gas cooker for the aquatint

Kenju Room:
It is a satellite room of the room number two, usually used for the Paper Restoration Workshop but possibly used to accommodate a dozen students..

Kitchen:
... for the five o’clock tea.

SCHOLARSHIP
Eligible students can take advantage of a number of grants offered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Government ( http://www.esteri.it ).


U.S.A. CREDITS
credits may be transferred to y our home University after a specific agreement. Some school already allow their students to gain credits in attending our courses ( i.e. Middlebourogh College and Smiths College.)


WHAT KIND OF INSTITUTION IS IL BISONTE?
Il Bisonte is a private institution, and thus our courses activity is a private program, but we are a no- profit Foundation, recognized by Italian State, and our main course: the 1400 hours grants a Certification of Professional Training "Incisore-Stampatore" (Pressman-Printmaker) issued by Tuscany Region.

LANGUAGE USED IN OUR COURSES
Classes at Il Bisonte are in Italian, but our teaching staff is proficient in English and Spanish. For the longer course we strongly suggest to learn Italian, even in the same period.

Usually the foreigner students are the 50% of the classes.

CONDITIONS FOR ENROLMENT
Students interested in studying traditional printmaking techniques are admitted to courses at Il Bisonte. Practical knowledge of basic artistic techniques is required.

minimum age: 18

In order to enrol, each student must submit the following:

1. Application form correctly filled out. This can be obtained by mail, fax or e-mail from the School office.
2. two passport-size photos
3. photocopy of ID or passport
4. payment of the enrolment fee

The above material must arrive at the School at least one month before the beginning of each course. The documents for the request of a study visa (if necessary) will be sent after the acceptance on the course.

PAYMENTS
Payments can be made via bank transfer to:
Account holder: Fondazione “Il Bisonte – per lo studio dell’arte grafica”
Bank: Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Ag. 12, Via dei Bardi, 73 r. - 50125 Firenze
Account number: 11564/00
Bank sorting codes: CIN L - ABI 06160 - CAB 02812
International Bank sorting codes: IBAN IT74L0616002812000011564C00
BIC/SWIFT: CRFIIT3FXXX

or via postal cheque

The main credit cards are accepted for payments at the Secretary Office.
The Direction can admit to divide the payment in instalments

VISA
The school provides all the documents necessary to obtain a Student VISA, after having enrolled to the course
The documents we will issue you are:
- Certification of enrolment, in which we specify the details of the course you are enrolled in
- Certification of Housing, we will provide you with a document granting that you'll have an house for your arrive in Florence
- Declaration of Responsibility, this is a strange document some embassy requires, we declare not to provide you any job within the Foundation Il Bisonte
- Certification of Recognization of the Foundation Il Bisonte in the Tuscany Region register of the Juridical Persons

The whole procedure is not fast, we suggest not to book any flight before having obtained the VISA, and to plan the timing well.

LODGING AND SECRETARY OFFICE WORK
If we receive confirmation of your acceptance and payment of the enrolment fees 15 days/1 month before the commencement of the course the school will be able to help you to find an accommodation. Florence is a small city, with a strong community of foreigner people, to find a lodging and to buy food is not a problem, the problem is to do them in the cheaper way (a room in a shared apartment would cost around 380/450 euro per month).
We would do our best to help you in saving your money.