National School of Fine Art. University Extension and Mural Painting

The National School of Fine Arts represented a pluralistic sector of the national culture through a heterogeneous aesthetic-pedagogical proposal, whith a radical and political (non-partisan) purpose, fully engaged with the popular social sectors. Even before the reform of its study plan in the 1960s, it became a centre of research in mural art at the Mosaic Laboratory, led by Miguel Angel Pareja, a germ that gained space and developed through university extensions. While this work does not include all that has been done, nor mention all the people who have participated in these collective creations, it illustrates the spirit that inspired them and explores the background that allowed us to understand the assumed definitions that distinguish them. These were, among others, the original university contributions of the Reform of Cordoba, contributions provided by art education and a view of history which left a particular hallmark from the outset. All this has helped the development and preservation of a mural painting tradition at the School of Fine Arts, which made its activity a substantial part of urban art committed to the social theme, clearly defined ethically and politically, which contributed to the building of its identity.