July 10–24, 2022

Learn to create mosaics—the most enduring form of pictorial art. In this hands-on, two-week course, Rick Shelley will demonstrate the methods of mosaic production. Students will learn to shape stone, glass, and ceramic into tesserae to be used in three mosaic projects. Roman mosaics, medieval mosaics, and contemporary mosaics will be studied for inspiration. The course combines intensive instruction with weekend excursions to the mosaic treasures in Florence and Ravenna. Students are encouraged to work in the studio outside of class, as studios are open 24 hours. The goal is to enjoy and create beautiful mosaics.

For the full itinerary, click here. For more information, contact us.

June 28 – July 05, 2020

May 2–26, 2021

August 4 – August 18

August 4 – August 18

Renowned American painter, Stanley Lewis, will lead a 3-week landscape painting workshop, culminating in an exhibition. Participants will work directly in town and from the spectacular landscapes surrounding Monte Castello, in this observational painting workshop. The session will include evening lectures by Stanley and other noteworthy contemporary painters, participating in the session as Visiting Artists. The workshop will be supplemented by weekly day-trips to Rome, Florence, and Orvieto in order to incorporate discussions on some of greatest masterworks in the history of Italian Art.

For other information, contact us.

Acclaimed Painter and Illustrator Cornel Rubino will lead a 2-week workshop at the International Center for the Arts, on the creation of monumental works of visual art.

Develop an ease in working large - explore how scale alters the way we view our world by drawing directly from life to re-translate nature and rethink the human condition.

Art, like spoken language, has a vocabulary all its own. With drawing, you will be exposed to elements of this vocabulary, which serves as the raw material for all visual information. This workshop explores and utilizes drawing to explore the figure in narrative and poetic (non-narrative) ways.

You will be drawing vertically in studio on heavy weight Rives or Fabriano paper no smaller than 7 ft. from live models, fleshy and ideal, as well as lyrical and moody objects of your choice from nature. A variety of wet and dry media will be explored and developed as well as the skills needed to tackle large scale drawings translated from your smaller sketches and ideas. You will experience drawing the figure as it empowers and informs your work, carefully raiding the mines of visual desire.

Drawing on a large scale offers a freedom that is exciting and liberating. You will have the opportunity to create and make the kind of marks that only working on a large-scale surface allows you. We will be working on heavy-duty paper so you will have the opportunity to draw wet with inks or water based paints or dry with pencils, pastels or charcoals. Or mix materials together. The sky’s the limit.

You will work on at least 3-4 large drawings depending on time constraints. We will have individual and group discussions about the work in progress and develop our skills in constructive criticism, working at understanding the significance and psychological importance of line, value, form and composition in the process of image making.

Along with trips to Siena, Florence and La Scarzuola in Montegabbione, we will draw on the history of Monte Castello as a gathering place for artists in a variety of mediums and scholars in disciplines across the humanities. Painters, sculptors, musicians and chefs will also be in residence at ICA, providing optional lectures or demonstrations and joining retreat participants for communal meals on the terrace. There is a strong opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas and unexpected inspiration for those who seek it.

For more information, contact us.

May 24 – June 4, 2020

May 31 - June 4, 2019

Learn the ancient art of gilding, the technique of applying thin leaves of pounded metal to a prepared surface, and its many exciting contemporary applications. This workshop is of interest to painters, book artists, woodworkers, surface designers and those interested in mixed-media applications.

In the first week, students will create a series of sample boards using a variety of techniques on prepared hardboard and paper. Beginning with the importance of ground preparation, students will discover the fundamentals of water-based mordant gilding with Dutch metal, composition gold, aluminum and copper leaf.

Traditional Renaissance surface embellishment processes are explored – such as sgrafitto (“to scratch through”); granito, a technique for creating background texture and patterns; and pastiglia, a form of low relief that creates a raised surface, antiquing and distressing – as well as non-traditional surface applications.

We will research ornamental designs and interpret them for our various individual projects during the second week. Please feel free to bring your design ideas and other inspirational materials to adapt as well.

All gilding supplies will be included in the class fee. A materials list of supplies one may bring from home will be provided.

The 2-week workshop will be rounded out with trips to Siena and Florence.

June 5–16, 2022

August 4 - August 25, 2019