Escola de Artes e Ofícios Thomaz Pompeu Sobrinho, Heritage education center in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The Escola de Artes e Ofícios Thomaz Pompeu Sobrinho is an educational institution housed in a three-story palace with over 30 rooms in downtown Fortaleza. The building, surrounded by gardens, now serves as a center for teaching craftsmanship and artistic skills to young people.
The palace dates to 1929 and was built in Italian art-nouveau style. The school was founded in 2002 and has since used this architecturally significant building to provide free training in various disciplines.
The school bears the name of a prominent local intellectual and teaches traditional craft techniques rooted in the region. Visitors see students combining historical methods like woodcut printing with embroidery, continuing local artistic traditions through hands-on work.
The center offers free courses in restoration, conservation, woodblock printing, and traditional crafts for public school students and socially disadvantaged youth. Training programs focus on hands-on learning and serve those seeking access to professional skills.
A special project called Heritage for All brought together more than 100 young people from poorer neighborhoods to create inventories and have a voice in how the place is run. This participatory model gained national recognition and shows how education and communities can be linked.
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