A training course
that stems from history.
Filled with values and passion.
A training course that stems from history. Made of values and passion.
S.T.I.A. is an arts and crafts workshop.
A story born out of a love for the craft
of blacksmithing. For more than 50 years.
S.T.I.A. is an arts and crafts workshop. A story born out of love for the blacksmith's trade. For more than 50 years.
The Associazione Biennale d’Arte Fabbrile (Biennial Association of Blacksmith Art) and the Municipality of Pratovecchio Stia, driven by the need to valorise the blacksmith’s craft, set up a fundamental training course to achieve a serious professional preparation to be contrasted with any amateurish expression and coarse superficiality flaunted as an artistic aptitude.
Today, a specific and comprehensive preparation is required, in which one learns techniques that require a high level of professionalism linked to the innovation and evolution typical of contemporary art requirements.
About Us.
What is S.T.I.A.
With this in mind, the Arts and Crafts Workshop has been structured by dividing the training course into a series of courses of various levels whose teaching staff is made up of some of the best Italian master blacksmiths such as Roberto Giordani, Roberto Magni and Martino Stenico.
The Workshop thus offers students a training pathway that aims to provide technical skills, make students aware of their own knowledge, stimulate critical and creative skills, and address contemporary stylistic paths in order to pursue a professional career in an autonomous manner.
About Us.
What is S.T.I.A.
With this in mind, the Arts and Crafts Workshop has been structured by dividing the training course into a series of courses of various levels whose teaching staff is made up of some of the best Italian master blacksmiths such as Roberto Giordani, Roberto Magni and Martino Stenico.
The Workshop thus offers students a training pathway that aims to provide technical skills, make students aware of their own knowledge, stimulate critical and creative skills, and address contemporary stylistic paths in order to pursue a professional career in an autonomous manner.
Birth
The project originated in the 1970s when the first forging courses began, organised as a kind of workshop experience in which aspiring iron craftsmen learned to handle traditional tools.
These courses did not have a well-defined syllabus and the places where the lessons were held were also very varied. All this was always supported by the association’s volunteers, who repeatedly cherished the dream of creating a place in Casentino dedicated to teaching handicrafts.
Modernity
An important turning point in this regard occurred in 2019, when the Municipality of Pratovecchio Stia won a tender from the Region of Tuscany for the construction of an ‘Arts and Crafts Laboratory’.
The Laboratory was finally realised in an old railway building, completely refurbished, located near the Stia Station, inside which classrooms, forges, and all the equipment necessary for a true Arts and Crafts Laboratory were set up.
The Association aims to provide course participants with a serious, gradual and multifaceted professional training in which learning traditional techniques is accompanied by an openness to the needs of evolution and innovation typical of modern art. In addition, it has set up a training course structured in several courses of different levels starting from the basic level up to advanced courses.
The Present
For the year 2024, making use of master blacksmiths of great value, such as Roberto Magni and Martino Stenico, six courses have already been organised and held: drawing, basic forging, toolmaking 1, toolmaking 2, assembly techniques 1, assembly techniques 2.
The response to what was on offer was very positive, as almost all of the envisaged and permitted enrolments were reached, and the participants varied greatly, including a young Japanese man who had come to Italy especially for this purpose.
The work will continue in the autumn session with two more courses, to complete the work begun, and with a new cycle that will repeat the basic courses. A jewellery workshop will also be held shortly for the creation of rings using the Japanese Mokume Gane technique.
Contacts Us
We are here to answer all your questions and provide you with more information about our courses and activities. Contact us by email or phone to find out more!
Via di Santa Maria a Poppiena
Stazione di Stia,
52015 Pratovecchio Stia (Arezzo)
tel. +39 366 3052558
fax +39 0575 503890
info@stia.academy
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