Learn to create mosaics—the most enduring form of pictorial art with a master of the medium – in a country renowned for some of the most spectacular examples of mosaic art.
In this hands-on course, Rick Shelley will demonstrate the methods of mosaic production. Students will shape stone, glass, and ceramic into tesserae for their projects. Experiment with glues and cements to adhere tesserae onto the wooden panels provided. One class will concentrate on working with the beautiful and traditional practice of gold leafing glass. Using this simple, but remarkable technique, color of extraordinary depth is possible. A truly remarkable medium! Students will be encouraged to design and execute several small mosaics. The focus will be on form, outlines, shadows, and highlights. Simple images, letters, or symbols are ideal subjects.
The International Center for the Arts provides the perfect atmosphere to experience the mosaic arts. Surrounded by the Italian countryside, the studio at Monte Castello di Vibio is an oasis in which to work and learn. The course combines intensive instruction with excursions to nearby mosaic treasures. Roman mosaics, Byzantine mosaics, and contemporary mosaics will be studied for inspiration – and experienced in person! Our goal is to enjoy and create beautiful mosaics while being immersed in this wondrous experience.
All the while, 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. All supplies are included. The course will include visits to Florence and Rome and while in Rome will visit the Vatican Museums.Finally, as an additional excursion, we will visit Orvieto’s splendid medieval cathedral to see the exterior mosaics and interior frescos.
Our Mosaics in Italy with Rick Shelley workshop is a rare opportunity to study with a master of the medium in a country renowned for some of its greatest examples. All the while, participants will enjoy a rare immersion in traditional culture, enjoy incredible views made possible by our mountaintop location, delight in gourmet and traditional food prepared fresh by expert chefs from fresh, locally sourced ingredients all accompanied by excellent local wine (or optional selections from our wonderful Wine List, for an additional fee). It is a rare experience, available to only 10 participants.
In a workshop led by one of the world-renowned masters of the traditional medium of fresco - iLia Anossov, instructs participants in the basic concepts and techniques of the medium. The course will focus on classic fresco techniques while studying the details of both wall and panel preparation and sgraffito techniques.
Here in Italy, a nation perhaps most famous for this art form, participants will have the added benefit of excursions to cities that are home to the world’s greatest examples of fresco in the company of a master of the medium! Excursions to Florence, will visit the works of artists of the Florentine Renaissance, including: Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, and many more!
In the second week of the course, our Rome excursion will allow the unforgettable experience of viewing the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo as well as other works that adorn the Vatican.
In addition, students will further their understanding of the perspective, value range principals, and the verdaccio underpainting and its consequent effect on the painting process.
In the course of the two-week workshop, students will create one small-scale work, individually exploring the sgraffito technique and one group “fresco bodega” project, an eight by four-foot, wall fresco in the buon fresco technique, which will be adorned with classic sgraffito elements. Students will explore classic techniques of buon fresco, sgraffito, preparatory stages and final wall painting stage.
All the while, 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. All supplies are included.
Our Fresco Workshop with iLia Anossov is a rare opportunity for study with a renowned master of the medium in a country renowned for it. All the while, participants will enjoy a rare immersion in traditional culture, enjoy incredible views made possible by our mountaintop location, delight in gourmet and traditional food prepared fresh by expert chefs from fresh, locally sourced ingredients all accompanied by excellent local wine (or optional selections from our wonderful Wine List, for an additional fee). It is a rare experience, available to only 10 participants.
All materials for the course – including a set of fresco brushes – are included. Also included is Fresco School Membership and a 5-volume video tutorial on Fresco painting by the master!
Paper is an amazing material with the potential to be structurally strong or flexible and soft, opaque or translucent, a base for drawings and paintings, a sculptural form or bound into books for writing and illustrations.
In this workshop we will explore the potential of paper as a basic material and as a medium for artistic pursuits. This two-week event will be led by internationally known instructors Amanda Degener, founder of Cave Paper; Carol Barton of Popular Kinetics; Denise Carbone from the University of the Arts and Tom Balbo of Tom Balbo Galleries. The Workshop will also feature a two-day pulp-painting component, led by Visiting Artist, Roberto Mannino.
Students will be signing up for all below components, with 12 hours of instruction in each area: hand papermaking, pulp paper painting and marbling, sewn bookbindings, and designing pop-ups. The workshop will also include field trips to the Fabriano Paper Mill and to the city of Florence, along with several other excursion stops. In addition, Amanda will be offering optional morning Tai Chi sessions. This is an ideal session for teachers, graphic designers, creative artists, and anyone who likes to play with paper. No prior experience is necessary; all skill levels are welcome.
From Turkey to America: Traditional and Experimental Marbling Techniques
With Tom Balbo
Participant's, will learn to mix paints and prepare paper, and to familiarize themselves with traditional patterns. These patterns derive from the Turkish “ gel-get “ pattern. Day two students will have the option to continue pattern work, experiment with freeform, stencil, and floral patterns. The use of mores will be an added as additional pattern work and incorporated in to a variety of experimental practices. The use of handmade paper and older papers that will not need alum sizing will also be made available. Participants should plan to purchase or bring tube to handle 18”x 24” papers and smaller sizes as well. Also any papers one wants to experiment with are welcomed.
Pop-Up Paper Structures
With Carol Barton
A special kind of creative magic awaits you in this workshop. You will learn basic on-the-fold pop-up structures, then progress through a series of more complicated three-dimensional glued constructions. Props, platforms, spirals, V-folds and straddle pop-ups will be covered. Emphasis will on developing an understanding of the simple mechanics involved in this art of “paper engineering.” A public slide show on the history of pop-up and movable books will be presented for students and town residents. This is an ideal class for artists, teachers, graphic designers, and anyone who loves to play with paper. No prerequisite.
Tailored to fit: A desirable pamphlet for everyday use
With Denise Carbone
In the fascinating realm of book arts, the traditional technique of bookbinding extends to encompass a variety of forms, including the creation of detailed bookbinding pamphlets, which serve as both notebooks and showcases the craft. Among the myriad styles, the single section German case binding stands out for its durability and elegance. Truly the perfect companion.
The 2-section soft cover variant, which combines flexibility with the classic aesthetic of hardcover books uses Cave paper for its cover and parchment for the spine. The 2-section pamphlet sewing attaches the sections with a pocket inside the cover.
Another innovative approach within book arts is the 3-section exposed sewing method, which not only secures pages with precision but also turns the stitching into a decorative element, highlighting the craftsmanship involved. This technique lends a unique character to each piece, inviting readers and collectors to appreciate the structural beauty of the book as an object. As these innovative practices continue to evolve, they enrich the world of book arts, blending tradition with creativity to produce works that are not just to be handled, but admired and treasured.
Paper and Light
With Amanda Degener
During this two day workshop participants will make their own small handmade paper sculptures/lamps that incorporate light. We will have paper available so you can make your own paper choices and students will also sheet form Japanese style paper which is incorrectly called rice paper. We will go through the process of cooking, beating, and coloring what was once a kozo plant. Some of the techniques include tamping wet paper onto a mold or balloon which is like a sophisticated papier mâché. We will also make a simplified version of the Japanese collapsible spherical chochin lantern. Translucency will be considered and both natural and electric light can be incorporated into your work
Painting with Linen Pulp With Roberto Mannino
This two- day workshop will explore the fascinating possibilities of painting with paper pulp with a master of the medium, renowned Rome-based artist, Roberto Mannino.
We will explore the various aspects and possibilities of creating images using intensively pigmented pulp as a painting method. By combining pulp, water and flocculent in different ratio, participants will be able to combine sharp edges and blurred transparent layers.
Staring with standard papermaking sheet-forming with moulds and further testing with the use of deckle boxes, this workshop will introduce various techniques of multilayering finely beaten and colored pulp to a wet sheet using multiple kind of stencils, grids, squeeze bottles and eyedroppers. Working with handmade paper in its wet state will allow for further image manipulation by transferring inkjet prints and water solvable drawings on the moist sheet before drying.
A deep dive into the foodways, arts and culture of Umbria through hands-on learning, creation and curated experiences. Hosted and led by Nathan Colello Gilmour (Ragazzo Foods) at the International Center for the Arts in Monte di Vibio, Umbria. Program conceptualized and created by Chef Jason Osburn (Felony Provisions) and Nathan Gilmour.
For the full itinerary, click here. For more information, contact us.
The Music Expression and Performance course is an intensive solo and chamber music workshop for vocalists, instrumentalists, pianists, and composers. The course will focus on non-traditional practice approaches, musicality, interpretation, improvisation, movement, creativity, and performance. Students will have the opportunity to perform on the campus of the International Center for the Arts. The class will focus especially on repertoire of Italian composers and will also take field trips to attend music performances.
For more information, contact us.
After the defeat of Napoleon, English tourists and artists flocked back to the healing warmth and creative inspiration of Italy. English Romantic authors Lord Byron, John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley spent artistically fruitful years there, with Keats and Percy resting there still. This course will study works by these authors that were composed, conceived, and/or set in Italy.
For more information, contact us.
Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding, marrying the arts with mathematics to create some truly complex and stunning structures. This summer course will primarily focus on art, using mathematical techniques to design your own origami. For USAO students, this course counts as an Artistic Expression course.
For more information on mathematics role in origami, click here.
For more information, contact us.
August 4 - August 25, 2019
August 4 - August 25, 2019
August 4 - August 25, 2019
In this two week workshop, painter Richard Hart will explore with participants the creation of collaged works that employ a variety of techniques on canvas, linen and other textiles, including figurative painted elements drawn from the natural beauty of Monte Castello di Vibio and surrounds; the use of fabric dyes and water based paints; the use of cyanotype printing and photosensitive inks; as well as the incorporation of off-the-shelf printed textiles.
We will embrace chance and experimentation as we follow curiosity and intuition into unknown creative territory. Once each participant has created a small inventory of textiles and painted elements, we will begin sewing pieces together to create at least one 60 cm x 80 cm collage, which will then be critiqued and hung for exhibit at the end of the session.
This workshop will encourage participants to experiment and move beyond their creative comfort zones. We will actively pursue joy in new modes of mark-making, unexpected color combinations and happy accidents. And once our raw material has been made, we will combine elements with great care (or reckless abandon!) paying attention to considerations including composition, balance, color relationships, scale and juxtaposition.
All this while absorbing the incredible environment and landscape of Monte Castello di Vibio and Umbria, whose eternal richness continues to inspire artists, writers and thinkers worldwide. The workshop will include two Friday trips where we will view millennia of artistic expression in the forms of painting, drawing and architecture (not to mention, fashion).
For more information, contact us.
Amy Weiskopf and Xico Greenwald will co-teach a two-week summer still life painting workshop open to artists of all levels, from beginner to advanced. Instruction will be tailored to individual students within the group. Participants will be able to work from classroom still life arrangements put together by the instructors and also have the option of assembling their own still life arrangements in a private studio space. Still life objects can be obtained during trips to local Umbrian produce stands. This session will include evening art lectures, group discussions, and day-trips to visit Museo Morandi and nearby early renaissance masterworks by Piero della Francesca. Students can also take advantage of unstructured time to explore the Umbrian countryside.
For more information, contact us.
