This two-week workshop is divided between two interrelated disciplines: papermaking and printmaking.
In the first week, renowned Italian American paper artist and educator, Roberto Mannino, will introduce the basics of hand papermaking.
In the first week, participants will learn how to create unique papers from virgin, high quality fibers like cotton, linen, and abaca. Color laminations, transparencies and pulp painting effects will support your creativity in composing sheets up to A3 size. Since these papers will be internally sized, they will be rewetted to better retain inks and embossing under the etching press.
In the second week, several alternative printmaking methods will be introduced, with the central focus of first developing imagery with paper as the substrate, then further printing over it:
Two single-day excursions through the amazing countryside of Central Italy will enrich this experience:
In week-one, we will visit the city of Fabriano. In the medieval city, we will visit the Fabriano Paper and Watermark Museum, which houses a working medieval papermaking press. We will also visit the nearby Civic Art Collection, Bruno Molajoli, and the Istocarta, with the impressive Fedrigoni Paper arkive hosted in the Historical Milani Papermill.
In week-two, we will visit Perugia to visit an important collection of medieval manuscripts at the Bibilioteca Augusta and then we will visit the extraordinary, National Museum of Umbria, for a tour of the collections.
Participants in the program will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Roberto Mannino
Roberto Mannino is an Italian-American artist and educator living and working in Rome, Italy. He holds a B.F.A. in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI, and an equivalent Sculpture Degree from the Rome Academy of Fine Arts.
His artistic production ranges from intaglio printmaking, book-arts, watermarking, relief and site-specific sculptural installation. Mannino has an extensive background in Printmaking (National Cabinets of Prints 1981-87) and has exhibited intensively as a fiber artist. Looking for the appropriate medium for his practice, he has moved from fibers to handmade paper since mid 90’s. Among his prominent works is the permanent Installation Streams created in 2013 for the Istituto Centrale della Grafica in the Sala Dante of Palazzo Poli in Rome, overlooking the Trevi Fountain. Prof. Mannino teaches at TUR but he has taught in others schools like Loyola and Cornell in Rome, City of Rome School of Arts and Crafts, Academy of Fine Arts, Viterbo, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore.
