The International Center for the Arts is proud to announce a Masterclass with renowned wood-sculptor Bruno Walpoth. Known for the uncanny presence of an internal presence, his lifelike sculptures have been regarded as possessing an almost metaphysical presence: “Bruno Walpoth’s work proves how strong the spell is; his statues are not objects, rather almost animate creations with souls, their feelings bare for the viewer to see.”
The two-week intensive requires experience in working from the human figure on a life-sized scale, as well as at least two years of experience in working with wood. Those interested in admission should provide a C.V. and Artists Statement, as well as 10-20 images of work demonstrating a degree of proficiency in these areas. Participation in the Masterclass is limited to 8.
Participants will be provided with a select log of walnut and worksurface, but must provide their own chisels, rasps, and mallet – although these tools will also be available in our art supply store. The group will be provided with a model and working intensely each participant will produce a life -sized bust. As part of the class, the group will make an excursion to Florence in order to study wooden sculpture in various collections. An optional trip to the National Gallery of Umbria, in Perugia will be available as well.
For more information, contact us.
August 15–29, 2021
We present a unique opportunity to master the two different ways of pursuing street photography. We shall call them “Fishing” and “Hunting”, and they depend on one’s self and the circumstances you face when trying to photograph strangers in the street.
Fishing implies patience, effort, offering something to the other, a way of seduction, a slow pace approach to people that interest you, convincing them to voluntarily and even happily allow you to shoot their image.
Dominique will teach you how to overcome the fear of approaching strangers asking for a photo, how to empathize with them, how to connect with your subjects, creating a friendly atmosphere and avoiding negative reactions. As a result, you will not only get better portraits but also have fun and make new friends.
Hunting means jumping at the occasion to get a candid photo as a testimony of reality, capturing the image without being seen, stealing them in a way, seeing without being seen.
Ximena will teach you how to navigate a hectic world where we look but often don’t see, to immerse yourself in a quasi-meditative-contemplative state to sharpen your gaze to discover and portray details that escape us. How to use photography as a way to slow down one’s mind, connect with the landscape, others and yours, anticipating events through conscious observation, allowing you to capture the decisive moment. As a result, you capture unforgettable images but also better understand yourself in the process.
The end result of this workshop is to help each participant master the different tools that allow you to find or perfect your own photographic style; and to improve and develop your street photography by adapting it to different contexts.
At the end of this workshop, the best images of the participants will be printed and exhibited in ICA’s gallery with a gallery opening.
For more information, contact us.
Focusing on the accurate portrayal of anatomy, posture and gesture, we will investigate the communication of complex emotion and narrative context through building a full human figure. Details of hands, feet, hair, facial expression and fabric folds will be emphasized during this two week workshop. Kevin Rohde will lead participants through the process of constructing full figures 24” tall using a unique armature process and solid building method. Once the armatures are removed, the pieces will be hollowed out and completed, covering the ceramic slip and cold finishing process.
We will also be going on two day-trips to either Florence or Rome and either Siena or Perugia, exploring those great cities’ rich sculptural heritage. For more information, contact us.
Drawn to Color and Light is a unique opportunity to discover or improve your drawing skills through the lens of some of the great artists of the New York school. Surrounded by the color and light of Umbria, we will focus particularly on ideas about color and space emphasized in the teaching of Hans Hofmann, as well as his student, Mercedes Matter, with whom I studied in New York. It can be hard to slow down and actually look at things, especially when travelling. Sight-seeing doesn’t always include really seeing in the ways that Hofmann and Matter passionately taught. This week-long workshop on drawing and color provides participants with the time to stop, look and draw.
Over the course of this workshop, you will practice drawing exercises developed to help you to see in new ways. You will focus on the basic elements of drawing as stressed by Hofmann and his school – line, shape, value, space, form, texture—and especially color! In order to facilitate this, we will begin with a pastel-making workshop in order to provide information on that medium as well as to expand the repertoire of your drawing media.
Each day will include a morning session that shares practical information about materials and methods and introduces exercises using a specific drawing element and one of the color contrasts. Classes will continue in the afternoon either outdoors in the walled town, or in the studio. Before dinner, we’ll gather to look at and discuss the day’s work. There will be a field trip on Friday to Assisi, with the opportunity to draw from Giotto’s famous frescos (Hofmann would be thrilled!).
The workshop is appropriate for beginning artists as well as those who wish to refresh and improve their skills.
For more information, contact us.
September 30–October 9, 2021
Blake Morgan will be offering landscape painting and drawing workshops June 20–July 11, 2021.
All levels of painting and drawing will be offered for undergraduate credit through the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
For more information, contact us.
World Thought is an examination of representative thought and expression of a number of world civilizations from the Second Century, C.E. through the Seventeenth Century, C.E. The course focuses on significant achievements in architecture, art, theatre arts, literature, music, philosophy, religion, and science. This unit will focus on Dante and the Quattrocento, covering issues in literature of 14thc Italy - in context of the particular influence of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The house will examine contemporaneous works in visual art and architecture, especially those reflecting the Divine Comedy. Excursions will include Florence and Orvieto. 3 hours.
All levels of painting and drawing will be offered for undergraduate credit through the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
For more information, contact us.
Paper is an amazing, surprising material with the potential to be structurally strong or flexible and soft, opaque or translucent, an artwork in itself, a base for drawings and paintings, a sculptural form, or bound into books for writing and illustrations. In this session we will explore the potential of paper as a basic material and as a medium for artistic pursuits. Four internationally known instructors, Amanda Degener, co-founder of Cave Paper; Carol Barton of Popular Kinetics; Helen Hiebert of Helen Hiebert Studio; and Denise Carbone from the University of the Arts will lead workshops in various aspects of the paper arts.
Students will be signing up for the complete session, with sixteen hours of instruction in each area: hand papermaking, creating paper-based objects, sewn bookbindings and designing pop-ups. The session 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 to be held near the fountain in our lovely public garden overlooking the surrounding mountains.
This is an ideal session for teachers, graphic designers, creative artists, and anyone who likes to play with paper or is interested in the rudiments of how books are put together. No prior experience is necessary; all skill levels are welcome.
For more information, contact us.
During this two-week workshop we will explore the creative process of digital photography. Monte Castello di Vibio offers us a wealth of extraordinary landscape vistas and the people of this historic 12th century hill town will be some of the most interesting portrait subjects an image-maker could ever hope to shoot. These subjects include traditional stonecutters, vineyard workers, truffle hunters, butchers and olive grove workers, just to name a few. We will be experimenting with many facets of photography including color, black and white, creative compositions, lens choice, street photography techniques, digital post-production and printing, which will culminate with an exhibition at the Arts Center. We will also be going on two, day trips to Rome and either Siena or Perugia, exploring those great cities offering new vistas to photograph.
Participants will need their own laptop and digital camera (capable of changing lenses for more creative opportunity). It is also recommended (but not necessary if you use other image editing software) that you have Photoshop already installed on you laptop before arriving. Photoshop tends to be the industry standard and we can use it to give our images the polish and vision we are looking to create.
For more information, contact us.
Overall, the workshop will focus on studying the details of both wall and panel preparation as well as classic fresco and sgraffito techniques. In addition, students will further their understanding of the perspective, value range principals, and the verdaccio under painting 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.
For more information, contact us.
Menrva, the Etruscan goddess of creativity, was also known as the ‘Goddess of a Thousand Works” – an aspirational goal for writers and academics if there ever was one! What better place, therefore, to channel the spirit of Menrva and focus on your writing than in Umbria, the heart of Etruria, the land of the Etruscans!
The Menrva Writing Retreat at the International Center for the Arts in Monte Castello di Vibio provides up to two weeks of glorious time and space to write, while also enjoying the beauty of Umbria, the hospitality of an Italian hill town, great conversation, and delicious food and wine!
Led by Dana Zartner, Professor in the International Studies Department at the University of San Francisco, the retreat is geared towards academic writers, but open to all. The Menrva retreat will offer the opportunity to engage with your work in a supportive community with other writers in a beautiful Italian setting. Communal and individual writing spaces will be available to participants. Days are unstructured, save for the delicious meals, and opportunities for group discussion and presentation of your work are available for those who wish to do so.
There will also be the opportunity to explore the region through field trips and events (additional costs apply), including trips to Assisi, Perugia, or Lago Trasimeno, and wine, cheese, and olive oil tastings. Participants will have the opportunity to indicate their interests when registering for the retreat.
