Join us for a week art-making, cooking, and immersion in local tradition among the green hills of Umbria, in the heart of Italy. Here, in the ancient medieval village of Monte Castello di Vibio, time stands still. One of the most finely restored of Italian Hill Towns, Monte Castello has been recently been added to the list of "Most Beautiful Villages of Italy." Its stands among the hills of the Tiber valley, looking over the entire valley. From our vantage point, it is possible to admire the nearby historical cities of Todi, Perugia and even Montefalco on clear spring days.
The International Center of the Arts will make you feel at home during your stay, pampering you with our local cuisine created by our chefs Cristiano and Loris whose kitchen utilizes locally-sourced, seasonal products and traditional recipes of Umbria. Truffles, local mushrooms, wild boar and many other regional ingredients accompany great local wine ad olive oil, freshly-baked bread! During your stay, a cooking course will allow you to learn the secrets of the art of hand-made pasta according to the family recipe of Cristiano and his grandmother Anna: fun with your hands in the pasta is guaranteed as is the flavor!
The program offers a week of relaxation filled with creative activities. From the traditional ceramic techniques of the nearby majolica capital, Deruta to Raku firing with our partners at Mondoceramica , participants will and model and decorate clay objects made with their own hands. We will visit the remarkable, nearby city of Orvieto and the incredible Marmore Falls - the highest in Europe. We will regional wines and typical products at the excellent Paolucci Winery, our partner in the celebration of the ancient culinary and wine traditions our fascinating Region. We share the same respect for the territory and the landscape which has been our and passion over the years.
All the while, participants will be housed in the relaxed environment of Monte Castello di Vibio, free from tourists, souvenir stands and the stress of commercial travel. From the time we pick you up at the Rome/Fiumicino Airport (FCO) until we return you with our fond farewells, all your needs will be met. Our 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.
Take a look at the itinerary and contact us for more information on possible accommodation upgrades available within the village to further customize your stay!
Italy is synonymous in many minds with olive oil and it has traditionally produced some of the finest in the world! Here, in Umbria - the region called the Green Heart of Italy - a land of olive trees, grape vines, wheat fields, and rich in ancient traditions - we are very fortunate to produce some of the finest oils in Italy. Our little village is surrounded by olive orchards in every direction and their yield has claimed numerous regional and national awards. This Green-Gold as it is sometimes called, is the pride of our region and our locality. Those who have never experienced the flavor of freshly-pressed Umbrian pure virgin olive oil will be amazed by the complex flavor: smelling of the green of freshly cut grass, then rich and buttery, and finally - a spicy finish - it is among the most complex oils in the world!
From our mountain castle village, we are fortunate to be within a mornings walk of Passo del Palomba, a farm estate owned by Alessandro Gilotti and his wife, Claudia. Sandro is an internationally renowned expert on olive oil, and owner of one of the most highly-regarded producers in the region. The couples passion for this land as well as for the oil and wine they produce, is infectious and participants will soon be won over by their enthusiasm for the health benefits of his oil and his vast knowledge of cultivation and production.
The course is designed for all levels of interest, those with a general interest in simply learning more about quality olive oil in spectacularly beautiful setting will be equally enriched by the workshop as those with careers in the culinary arts, seeking to enhance their expertise and credentials. The week-long workshop, will consist of four, three-hour classes, held on the farm of the Passo del Palomba estate from Monday to Thursday. Day-five will be held at our Asilo facility, where we will do a tasting paired with dinner, accompanied by local wines of note. Afternoons will be spent in Monte Castello with excursions to local wineries, food and wine tastings, and a truffle hunt.
Topics to be addressed in our time at Passo della Palomba:
During your stay, you will be housed at a beautiful and grand, 17th c. villa, located on a forested mountain overlooking Tiber valley.
Surrounded on all-sides by olive groves, carefully kept lawns and grand cypress trees, hedges of lavender and rosemary grace the landscape, with a vegetable garden for guest use - the setting is idyllic. The stately villa itself is completely gated and fenced and features unique architectural elements, such as beautifully painted beamed and brick domed ceilings, terracotta tiled floors, stone walls, unique fireplaces, arched doorways and wooden-shuttered windows, all complemented by the stylish furnishing and decor throughout. The designer kitchen features the most elegant contemporary appliances and features.The main house sleeps ten (four bedrooms, all en-suite). In addition, a stone cottage and sleeps 4 in 2 bedrooms, with a separate bathrooms, and provides several sitting and relaxation areas in addition to a very comfortable main lounge. A large upper terrace includes a shaded area, perfect for dining and appreciating spectacular sunsets and mountain views. The lower patio surrounds a magnificent infinity pool. The villa is a stunning property that will provide unforgettable experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.
Join us in Italy for an inspiring workshop focused on building large-scale clay sculptures. This unique experience encourages experimentation in a safe, inclusive studio environment, allowing participants to push their technical boundaries without the pressure of keeping their work. We’ll troubleshoot technical issues together, fostering a spirit of collaboration and growth. In addition to hands-on building, you’ll spend a day in Florence, surrounded by iconic sculptures that showcase technical excellence. This immersive experience will not only expand your skills but also deepen your appreciation for large-scale art. We’ll also hold glaze and finishing demos featuring Trey’s under-glazing techniques as well as other surfaces for finishing sculpture. Participants are encouraged to bring small bisque ware pieces to glaze and finish. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your craft while exploring the beauty of Italy!
Participants 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.
Early Bird Workshop Special: Register and pay in full before December 22, 2025 and save 10%! Just use Discount code: zejzwzeg when registering.
You may know the tragic story of Cassandra: she prophesied the truth but was destined not to be heard or believed. Often, we treat our creative voice in a similar way. While it is unique to every one of us, the question is do we leave space to hear and understand our muse’s song? “We must learn to be a soothsayer for our soul,” says Kirsten, “and listen beyond the din of disbelief in the head and the fear of being misunderstood in the heart.”
Let’s awaken and rewild the tale of our creative muse to give her voice again. This unique sculptural retreat combines technical ceramic figurative instruction and mixed media book arts to harness the creative voice that sings in us all. Studio instruction will be accompanied by site visits to inspire, such as the underground Etruscan dwellings in Orvieto, local antique markets, and the Monster Park outside Rome. As an incubator for soulful expression, Italy is full of myths, histories, and legends that echo in the art and landscape.
During this retreat Kirsten will guide the class to build a small torso to hang on the wall. Kirsten has a step-by-step approach to figurative ceramics that is easily accessible. Her class demonstrations are followed-up with individual tutorials, enabling her to help each student achieve their narrative vision. In addition, Kirsten will guide the class to expand and strengthen the narrative potential by making an assemblage fiber scroll book that will hang from the torso. Participants will walk away with a knowledge of techniques such as rusting, eco dye, photo transfer, collage, book arts, stitch and mark making.
This class is for ALL LEVELS: whether you have never touched clay but yearn to stretch your creative potential, or if you are a seasoned ceramicists that want to add a few new techniques to your toolbox.
Participants 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.
Early Bird Workshop Special: Register and pay your deposit before January 15, 2025 and save 10%! Just use Discount code: zejzwzeg when registering.
Tending the Muses' Temple: Qigong, Writing, Astrology, Voice, Hand Work for Female Identifying Participants is led by four skilled and seasoned teachers: Brea Fisher, Jodi Paloni, Andrea Goodman, Susan Bickford.
The workshop provides two spacious weeks of esoteric practices in an earthly paradise: Monte Castello de Vibio, a mountain town in Umbria, Italy, at the International Center for the Arts. When we take time to practice, listen to inner knowings, and express that through bodies into form, it serves to strengthen our foundations. Just as one might sweep out the leaves and cobwebs from an ancient temple, exercising our creative practices tends the temple of ourselves as vessels for the muse.
Moving with utter presence through Qigong form, we meet the rising sun in simple surroundings, a former convent. Give gratitude, open your heart, settle your mind, and greet your guides, saying yes to the precise course of your path in this lifetime. Qigong is movement as medicine and in this tradition, under the guidance of the Goddess of Compassion Quan Yin, we offer it as a prayer and a blessing on all.
Open yourself to the Gateless Writing Method. Listen to the swallows of Umbria, keep your pens moving, and allow what wants to come to the wide open page. Gaze at the heavenly bodies with a daily astrological reading in a sharing circle, making a connection to the cosmic dimension. Sing in "Cosmic Harmony" an improvisational sound healing modality, liberating our voices together. Make charts and maps in various media of our experience. Cast local bee's wax into the ground to make sacred candles of this special place to light our way. In addition to our daily practices we'll take a few day excursions to sacred sites such as: the Frasassi Caves, and the Gola dell'Infernaccio (Hell's Gorge) and listen for the magic while we are there.
Please note this residency includes physical complexities: moderate walking, cold-water wild swimming and a cave visit. Applicants are responsible for their own physical wellbeing.
Participants 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, when on campus, Monday-Thursday; Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (when on campus) No meals are served on Friday - our excursion day - unless previously arranged. Your workshop includes the excursions below, however, many additional options are available for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bilingual support are provided. *Meal service is provided while in Monte Castello only, unless otherwise noted. Meals on excursions and admissions are not included in the cost, unless specifically noted in the itinerary.
The Art of Ex Libris
This practical course introduces you to the ancient art of Ex Libris. Participants will learn the history and development of bookplates, studying techniques and design options that enable them to create a unique and symbolic miniature work reflecting their individuality.
The course offers each participant the opportunity to learn and create their own bookplate, an object that will be useful for personalizing and preserving their books and most treasured items.
The curriculum of the course will proceed as follows:
1. Introduction to Bookplates: Overview of the history of bookplates: origin, development, and impact. The significance of bookplates as personal bookmarks. Examples of bookplates and viewing of some collections.
2. Researching Compositions: Working on sketches and their refinement.
3. Selection of Design Elements: Symbolism, typography. Overview of different fonts and their impact on bookplates. Choosing a font that reflects personal style.
4. Reflection and Creation of the Model.
5. Overview of Materials: For carving the bookplate and transferring the design onto linoleum.
6. Practice Exercises: Improving skill in using the chisel. Main techniques for carving the miniature on linoleum.
7. Carving the Bookplate.
8. Stamp Assembly and Finishing: Bringing the product to completion. Reviewing and correcting the work.
9. Printing: Rules for signing printed graphics, presentation, and discussion.
Throughout their stay, participants in the workshop 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.
The study of human anatomy in Italy is a long and distinguished tradition. The extraordinary anatomical theatres in medical schools at the University of Padua and the University of Bologna bear witness to this history and were among the first of their kind in existence. Even today, we marvel at the accuracy and lifelike intensity of the 17 th c. wax anatomical models in the Specola Museum in Florence, which were made to allow medical students to observe venous, muscular, and skeletal systems without a cadaver. In this regard, the study of anatomy in Italy has profoundly impacted not only our understanding of the human body, but also the study of medicine in the western world.
Surprisingly, this history also reveals much about the significance of the role of visual art in furthering science and medicine. In his brilliant series of lectures at the Art Students League in New York, artist, anatomist, and scholar, Robert Beverly Hale once said: “science had actually sprung from art, that it had developed in those great periods when artists had looked at nature very closely and carefully, and had tried to record exactly what they saw. That, what we explained, was what scientists have been doing ever since.”
To support Hale’s observation one need look no further than Leonardo’s anatomical studies. These drawings are incredible not only for their accuracy and beauty as works of art, but also as a highly accurate analysis of function, of what anatomist George Bridgeman referred to as “the human machine.” Leonardo is perhaps unequalled in his analysis of the form of the human body as a manifestation of the interrelationship of functioning systems. It is known, for example that Leonardo once injected the heart of an ox with hot wax, then made a glass model of the casting. He then pumped the model with water to analyze the circulation of fluids in the human heart. Incredibly, Leonardo’s conclusions were not fully corroborated by cardiologists until the 1980’s.
The objective of our Human Anatomy intensive is to follow in this tradition. Thus, we will not only identify anatomical structures of the human body, but we will also analyze the function of those structures and their effect on its outward form. Throughout the workshop, we will reference functional systems in understanding their manifestation in surface anatomy of the figure.
Our focus will be on the skeletal and muscular systems, with some analysis of the major arteries of the venous system. We will work from a variety of sources, including real human skeletons as well as drawing from our collection of anatomical models and plaster casts. Our medium in the course will be various drawing media in large-format sketchbooks as a means of note taking for the course.
Our approach will be in the form of lectures and hands on drawing focusing first on the skeletal system. We will draw from real human skeletons as well as anatomical models. We will explore one area of the body at a time, first in analyzing the skeletal structure of the
torso. Afterward, we will move on to the head, arms, and legs, as well as hands, and feet. Participants will produce life-sized drawings with charcoal on heavy paper as well as drawings in sketchbooks of details such as joint articulations.
Afterward, the course will focus on the muscular system first through lecture and note-taking then by drawing from anatomical models, plaster casts, and the live model, in the same order. However, we will in exploring the muscular system we will utilize tracing paper and colored pencil, in order to add layers of muscles over our previous skeletal drawings.
In addition to the intensive schedule of daily drawing and lecture, we will make an excursion to the famed Specola Museum in Florence where we will draw from their collection of 16 th to 18th c. wax anatomical sculptures. The incredibly lifelike flayed figures are shockingly lifelike - at once factual and at the same time, powerfully expressive. Here, the wax models will provide an overview of the skeletal and muscular systems as well as an introduction to the venous system.
Throughout the workshop, participants 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.
Of Sibyls and Source: Performance in the Landscape is a two-week exploration of live art in geo-mythic sites in the Central Italian regions of Umbria and Marche.
This dynamic residency is guided by research, inquiry, and connection through myth-making and embodied presence in/with/of the land. We will spend three days exploring the Parco Nacional di Sibilline, part of the Apennines named for the Sibyl, or prophetess of antiquity, who is believed to have lived in a cave at the top of Monte Sibilla. This includes a day-long hike to the top of Monte Sibila and an excursion into the Gola dell' Infernaccio, a protected landscape of ancient beech trees and gorges crossed by an ancient pilgrimage trail. We will experience sites of ritual and esoteric rites related to the myth of the Sibyl mentioned in literary sources as well as living local folk traditions dating back thousands of years.
Our time together will also include day trips to the Nera River with Roman ruins whose source is the Monti Sibillini and entrance into the remarkable Frassasi Caves. Performances may take place at any or all of these locations including the impeccably maintained medieval town of Monte Castello di Vibio, our home base. At the conclusion of the residency we will hold a screening and live performance event in Monte Castello di Vibio. Our group includes a collaborative documentarian, misael soto, to help participants realize our work through video documentation as well as other methods in addition to providing critical feedback. (see below).
Please note this Residency includes physical complexities: moderate hiking up to an altitude of 7654 ft (2333 m), cold-water wild swimming and a cave visit. Applicants are responsible for their own physical wellbeing. With these logistical and locational considerations in mind, a brief Project Proposal (of approximately 300 words) is required for this workshop. Additionally, please specifically identify project proposals related to Parco Nacional di Sibilline, Nera River and Frassasi Cave for consideration. Please submit the proposal with a current CV and images of recent work (or link to a website) via email to: icarts.info@gmail.com Responses will be issued within 48 hours.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your Residency 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, when on campus, Monday-Thursday; Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (when on campus) No meals are served on Friday - our excursion day - unless previously arranged. Your workshop includes the excursions below, however, many additional options are available for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bilingual support is provided. *Meal service is provided while in Monte Castello only, unless otherwise noted. Meals on excursions and admissions are not included in the cost, unless specifically noted in the itinerary.
Our Documentarian
Born in Puerto Rico (1986) and based in Miami, misael soto’s practice interrogates and subverts contextually associated everyday objects and systemic roles, disrupting and manipulating space, systems, and frameworks. The publicly accessible, time-based, and ephemeral work involves interventions made upon existing objects, performative activations, institutional mediations, and is often a combination of these elements. misael received their MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2018) and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from Florida Atlantic University (2008). misael was the first ever Art in Public Life Resident with the City of Miami Beach's Department of Environment and Sustainability and Oolite Arts, where they founded the Department of Reflection. Beyond their public artworks which they have shown extensively for many years, misael has exhibited at MCA Chicago, Open Engagement 2015, the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, Material Art Fair in Mexico City, David Castillo Gallery in Miami, and Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, amongst others.
Stories in Clay with Gerit Grimm
This workshop delves into the precise methods and sophisticated tools essential for crafting a bust directly from a live model. Participants will explore in-depth the intricate anatomy, structural nuances, proportional considerations, cranial aspects, and facial features, while meticulously observing a diverse range of expressions and potential interpretations. Moreover, attendees will gain insight into the time-honored techniques employed by Italian and European old Masters. The program features a blend of interactive group discussions and personalized demonstrations tailored to participants' needs. Open to individuals of all skill levels, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to engage with the art of portraiture.
During the workshop, we will also take a day trip to Perugia in order to visit the National Gallery of Umbria and view their remarkable collection. Afterwards, we will stop in Assisi in order to visit the Church of San Francesco, one of the great monuments of Italy, that features works by Giotto and Cimabue as well as an "all-star cast" of early Renaissance artists! As a special treat, we will make a brief afternoon visit to see the incredible marble sculpture inside and outside of the Duomo of Orvieto, one of which the most remarkable examples of Italian Gothic architecture with some of the most renowned late medieval marble sculptures. The opportunity to observe and discuss these great works of Italian art will enhance your understanding of workshop topics, while also enriching your knowledge of the history of art.
Study after Donatello; Polychromed Wood; Dionisio Cimarelli
Participants 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. Materials for the course will be available in the ICA Art Supply store in Monte Castello.
Situated in one of the most beautiful regions of Italy, the idyllic medieval hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio, provides both amazingly picturesque vistas as well as unique challenges for the painter. Majestic mountains stairstep their way into the distance, as their deep green forested hillsides fade to blue gray. The famed, Tiber River, winds like a giant serpent through the valley on its path to Rome, and farm fields and meadows become ribbons on hillsides.
In describing this environment, one cannot help but wax poetic about the opportunities that it provides for the landscape painter. Itis a place both steeped in history, yet constantly changing. Gates open to panoramas that locals refer to as Porta Montanna (“Door to the Mountains”) and the south-facing, Porta Maggio (“Door of May”). To the southwest, where mountain ridges collide above the village of Doglio, the Bocca della Stregna (the Witches Mouth) sometimes reveals the source of its name as the moaning wind circles through its crevices. Castles in the distance appear and disappear in the morning fog as swallows dart in and out of a vista called simply, il Mare (the sea). Far off in the distance to the east lie the mysterious Sibillini Mountains, home of the famed Sybill and the mountain towns of Norcia and the breathtaking valley of Castelluccio, where wildflowers carpet the ground and wolves still howl at night. It is a timeless landscape where past and present meet in the eyes of those lucky enough to experience it. This workshop and your immersion in the surroundings will provide unforgettable experiences. This non-touristed location will allow you to enjoy this small town and its authentic ambiance.
Participants 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.
The immersive workshop may be taken for one or for two weeks in duration. In either case, participants will cover the essential aspects of outdoor landscape painting: choosing a motif, working quickly and directly, controlling value and color to create compelling harmonies, and thinking intentionally about form.
We will meet together four days a week, with weekends allowing time for independent painting time and Friday’s reserved for excursions. The first week will include ample instruction and support from the instructor. The second week students will be guided as they approach the landscape with more confidence and clarity. Painting sessions will be scheduled generally: 9am-1pm and 4pm-7pm Monday-Thursday.
Included in the workshop are two excursions: to Florence in Week 1 and to Assisi to see the unforgettable Giotto frescos in the Church of San francesco, in Week 2.
San Gimignano, Kevin Wixted
This workshop is directed towards artists, educators, and advanced students interested in exploring the dynamics of classical art and it’s relationship to Contemporary painting.
Our broad objective is to share experiences of great works of Italian Art and consider these experiences together as a group - both in context of our work, as well as in related endeavors such as research, teaching and curriculum/program development. In this, we particularly seek participation by academics seeking professional development opportunities in these areas. however, we also hope to engage painters who are early in their careers and are seeking to understand the role of these historical paradigms in context of our work as painters and teachers of painting today.
Using the remarkable landscape, art and architecture of Umbria as inspiration, this workshop investigates the ways in which perceptual study and abstraction combine. In the beautiful setting of Monte Castello di Vibio, we begin with drawing and painting in the village and surrounding landscape. Daily work in the studio and in discussion sessions are augmented with excursions, slide talks, and group critiques. We will travel to Assisi, Arezzo, Perugia, Sansepolcro and Florence to study first hand Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Perugino, and many more Italian masters in considering these issues.
Annunciation, Piero della Francesca
Midway through our journey, we will further these objectives through viewing paintings by Piero della Francesca in Monterchi, Sansepolcro, and Arezzo, before moving on to Florence. We arrive in Florence, to see the city in the golden light and enjoy a fantastic dinner! The next morning, we will visit the Monastery of San Marco, after which, participants will have the remainder of the day to explore according to their objectives. The following day, proceeding by train to Assisi, we will see the great S.Francis cycle of Giotto in the Basilica of Saint Francis, before we re-join our bus on our return to Monte Castello! The following week, participants will focus on their objectives in our serene village.
Our workshop is centered in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio.Here, your stay is all-inclusive, from the time our welcome service greets you at the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO) - aboard our comfortable private bus - until our bur returns you to FCO and our staff bids you a farewell at the airport, our staff facilitates comprehensive services. In Monte Castello, we allow complete focus by providing: 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. (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. All these factors, allow for an environment of focus and clarity, in which participants are free to integrate all of the experiences of this wonderful country and its extraordinary artistic traditions.
Monte Castello di Vibio, view to the Sibillini Mountains
