The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten is a higher art school in Amsterdam. It provides an international platform for budding artists, and has had postgraduate status since 1982. History Founded in 1870 by King Willem III, the Rijksakademie was the successor to the Royal Academy (19th century), the Stads Teekenacademie (18th century) and the Konstkamer (17th century). In the past, artists such as Jan Toorop, Hendrik Petrus Berlage, George Hendrik Breitner, Willem Wiegmans, Piet Mondriaan, Constant Nieuwenhuijs, Karel Appel, Corneille, Ger Lataster, Willem Hofhuizen, Jaap Min and others were affiliated with the Rijksakademie. In the last century, Rijksacademie was still written with a 'c' and was located in a stately building on Stadhouderskade 86. The program had academic status, comparable to the university level. Since the 1980s, the school model of working was abandoned and the Rijksakademie took the form of an "artist residency"; teaching programs were abandoned, classrooms were converted into studios and teachers were replaced by experienced artists (advisors) who made individual studio visits. The institute was subtitled Institute for Practical Studies and became a postgraduate program. Since late 1999 the Rijksakademie has been privatized; the Stichting Rijksakademie is funded by the Culture Section of the Ministry of OCW and by other governments, companies and funds. Today The Rijksakademie has been housed since 1992 in the former "cavalry barracks" at 470 Sarphatistraat.[1] The building was rebuilt and adapted. Technical workshops have been set up for the residents: construction (wood, metal, ceramics, fine mechanics), image and sound (video, film, photography, electronics, interactivity, programming, graphics) and chemistry (paint, plastics. glass). There is a publicly accessible library with an extensive collection of books and magazines, an art collection dating back to the 17th century and documentation center accessible by appointment. The residency period generally consists of two years. Each year up to 25 artists are selected from approximately 1,400 applications. Each year, about 50 professional artists - half of whom are from abroad - work on research, experimentation and the development of new work. Residents have their own studio at their disposal and can also use the technical workshops, one of the four project rooms and the library/theory workshop. During the annual RijksakademieOPEN in the last weekend of November, everyone has the opportunity to view the residents' work. (Source: Wikipedia. February 2018)