Conceived after the Italian botteghes of the Renaissance during the Quattrocento, the UP College of Fine Arts — or the CFA as it is more popularly known within the UP Community — initially started with the atelier method of instruction where students of varying age levels and educational backgrounds were admitted and given individualized guidance as they specialized in their fields.
The CFA traces its beginnings to the Academia de Dibujo under the direction of Damian Domingo established on 8 October 1823 by the Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Closed in 1834, the school was re-instituted and gained the approval of the Spanish government in 1845, partly funded by no less than Queen Isabela II herself. By 1893, it became the Escuela Superior de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado.
Upon the enactment of Act No. 1870 by the Philippine Assembly founding the University of the Philippines in 1908, this same escuela came to be known simply as the Escuela de Bellas Artes, or School of Fine Arts, when it was chartered as one of its first units. Pedro A. Paterno, member of the Philippine Commission had told Rafael Enriquez, then soon to be the first Director of the U.P. School of Fine Arts: “Frankly I will not give my approval to the proposed law founding the University of the Philippines if it will not include the School of Fine Arts as a unit.”
