The part-time art education academies in Flanders and Brussels are opening their doors today for the Day of the Academies.
This year, director Charlie Dewulf, a former student of the Academy of Visual Arts, Music and Drama in Menen (West Flanders), is the event’s ambassador.
For the 2025 edition, Dewulf challenged all students and teachers to a game of ‘One Against All’. The director proposed 25 creative challenges, all of which the academies accepted. “The academy gave me the freedom to rebel and create,” Dewulf emphasises. “Without that space to think differently, I would never have become a director.”
Dewulf aims to highlight creative freedom. She designed a series of tasks that push the boundaries of creativity, such as making art in the highest spot in the city, a 24-hour art marathon, art gifts for neighbours, and record-breaking parades. No challenge was too big for the 165 academies and their over 200,000 students.
The Day of the Academies is organised by the directors’ associations DenkBeeld (Visual and Audiovisual Arts) and VerDi (Music, Drama, and Dance).
According to the Education Association of Cities and Municipalities, a record number of students are celebrating the Day of the Academies in municipal and city academies this school year. In total, 200,983 students of all ages are enrolled in municipal or city academies for music, drama, and dance, compared to 196,980 the previous school year. This surpasses the record set in 2019 before the pandemic. Adults are particularly returning to the academies, the OVSG reports. Furthermore, the OVSG notes that 90 per cent of the academies are run by local authorities.
