A random site today: a hot air balloon out the window of the Siena Art Institute!

Snapshots from our Open Studio event Oct 14th at the Siena Art Institute.

#Toscanaincontemporanea2017#RegioneToscana #Giovanisì

A group critique checking out the notebooks that students have created as a response to the Luoghi di Fuga project presented by Annunziata de Comite, and the writings of Rebecca Solnit.

To check our our students’ current work-in-progress, more details are on their individual profile pages.

Participants in the Siena Art Institute’s Fall 2017 semester include:

• Alkiviadis Avarkiotis
• Beatrice Beneforti
• Iris Bournazou
• Milan Ćalović
• Katie Clark
• Dimitris Giannopoulos
• Elisaveta Mavrodieva
• Federica Murittu
• Mae-Chu O’Connell
• Tereza Panzieri- Stepanian
• Kyriakos Papadopoulos
• Ioannis – Alexandros Tovas
• Mia Yee

Just a few steps down the street from the Siena Art Institute, with architect Annunziata de Comite explaining how the space celebrates the past and future of the neighborhood, and showcases its artistic treasures and the skilled artisans of the contrada who create hand-made costumes, drums, and flags.

We had the privilege to visit the Biblioteca Briganti & City Archives with participants in the Siena Art Institute‘s Art & Society course.  The Biblioteca Briganti is part of the museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala, and is a treasure trove of resources, including the amazing volumes of Piranesi’s views of Rome, and many books related to Siena’s history, artists, and craftspeople. The City Archives contains centuries worth of records and artifacts related to Siena’s history, in a beautiful palazzo overlooking Piazza del Campo.  Their collection includes many one-of-a-kind antique maps of Siena, allowing us to trace the growth and changes of the cityscape over time.
#studyabroad #art #history
#Tuscany #Siena #library #maps #rarebooks

Our Intro Unit has wrapped up, so this week our many elective courses begin for the Fall 2017 semester!

Work underway for the ceramics class with participants from @sienaschool& @sienaart!

Visit to the Laboratorio Restauro del Fortepiano in Florence with our #sillumina young Italian artists, tutors Valeria D’Ambrosio and Irene Lupi, and a group of young international artists from Greece, Switzerland and the USA!
In this picture, in front of an instrument coming from #Amatrice, one of the towns that were deeply damaged by the central Italy #earthquake.

Gelato tasting at La Sorbettiera in Florence (or: the tastiest side if Italian traditional practices)!
The experience was part of the contemporary art project sponsored by #sillumina.
As a second phase of the project, Italian tutors Valeria D’Ambrosio and Irene Lupi, with the help of young Italian artists Beatrice Beneforti and Federica Murittu, led a group of young international artists on a Multisensory Materiality itinerary of Florence!
In this picture, young poet Katie Clark: 

Inspired by the project “Tempo Zulu” with contemporary interventions within the streets of Siena’s historic center, our semester participants were asked to create their own projects as a response.

Our group critique of their work included artist Bernado Giorgi, co-creator of the Tempo Zulu project, as well as architect Annunziata Di Comite, curator Valeria D’Ambrosio, and Lisa Nonken (Art & Society course instructor &artist).

Snapshot from today’s Art & Society class meeting, presenting our participants’ first projects, the “Points of Entry” assignment, creating a response to one of the city gates in Siena!  There was a great range of projects presented, and interesting discussion amongst the group.

We’re off to a great start!

As part of our initial activities of the Fall 2017 semester, we’ve had the chance to visit studios of local artisans, learning about their backgrounds, training, and crafts.

We had a great visit this week to the artisanal stained-glass studio in the historic center of Siena, Vetrate Artistiche Toscane with our students from the Siena Art Institute & Siena School for Liberal Arts, exploring the traditions and modern innovations of this fascinating craft.

During our trip to San Gimignano, we had the chance to visit Balducci Ceramica and learn about their artisanal pottery, and the lifetime of experience which goes into their handiwork.

We also visited the studio of master stone-carver Maestro Frati in Siena with our fall semester study-abroad students, discussing his work for the Tempo Zulu interventions in the paving stones of the historic center, his personal projects of inlaid stone, and his work restoring and conserving the stones of Siena’s cathedral pavement! He is truly living history!