back to all events > DARA Moving Spring 2024
​​

DARA: 2018 to Today

DARA began as a small initiative of Dutch painter Thomas Langeveld, and American painter Mischa Tranquilli. After four years of classical training in Florence, Italy, they moved to Langeveld's native city of Haarlem and taught private lessons while developing their own studio practice.

Upon recognising a growing interest from local artists in attending structured classes rooted in the classical tradition, DARA officially opened our doors in 2018. Initially, we had just 5 students, and not even a studio to call our own: we worked in a spare room of a student's office!

In 2023, DARA has since grown to offer part-time courses that attract an average of 65 students per trimester, and hosts between 12-14 workshops per year with renowned visiting artists from around the world. Our team now includes two additional core instructors: artists Edoardo Durdin and Rutger van Bruggen; our administrator, Nishal Hindori; and our dedicated studio assistants Anaïs Susano, Hans Bregman, and Rama Krishnaswamy. Our talented student community includes a very diverse range of artists, many of whom work as creative professionals.

DARA is still in the infancy of what we ultimately envision for the future, but we feel quite proud of how far we have come. And we are very excited to announce the next chapter in our journey: we are moving to a new location!

DARA Moving Spring 2024

​In April 2024, DARA will be moving to a new building in Haarlem at Zuider Emmakade 45, which is more than twice the size of our current space. The building is equipped with skylights in what will be our new model studios, to offer possibilities to work under both natural as well as artificial light.

This beautiful and characteristic building is a national monument, and the former atelier of stained glass artist and designer Willem Bogtman. Conveniently, DARA's new space is located just 5 minutes walking distance from our current studio, and we therefore remain easily accessible by both car and public transport.

How Will This Affect Spring 2024 Classes?

​Due to our upcoming move, our Part-Time Programme will be on hiatus during the spring and summer.

In other words: after the 2024 Winter Trimester, there will not be a 2024 Spring Trimester. The trimester programme will resume as normal in autumn.

However, we have a very exciting line-up of workshops and short courses scheduled for 2024, starting from the end of April and continuing to the end of the year. We expect to publish the roster of courses by the end of November / start of December – please stay tuned!

What's Next for DARA?

The move to a larger studio space opens up many exciting new opportunities for DARA!

In the short-term, we aim to:
​

• Expand our course offering within our part-time programme;
• Expand our collaboration with classically trained visiting artists teaching workshops at DARA;
• Organise regular exhibitions, lectures, artist demos + Q&As, and other events that enrich our community;
• Organise more live sketching opportunities for both our students and members of the public.

We hope to see you there in 2024!