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The International School Artist's Residency ProgramFor artists working independently. One of the "Top 10 Residency Programs Around the Globe" - ARTINFO |
The Artist's Residency program in Montecastello provides the ideal combination of seclusion and community in a setting of truly inspirational beauty. Artists can work intensively and independently for four or more weeks in a supportive and intimate environment. The Residence Program also enables students to continue to work and progress independently.
A distinguished member of the School faculty joins us as Senior Artist in Residence and studio critic. Independent Residencies are also available during School sessions.
May and September are the best months to visit Umbria. The weather is perfect, the air is clear: in May there are flowers everywhere, and the fields are green; in September the light and the colors of the landscape and sky are rich and fantastic. It is also the best time for our trips to Rome and Florence, since there are not as many tourists as there are in the summer months.
Our weekly trips to Italy's cities of art inspire and inform the work in the studio. A model poses in the drawing room for four-hour sessions, four days a week. And in the dining room, residents enjoy home-cooked meals together and develop a close sense of community.
Overlooking the lush Tiber River valley, Montecastello di Vibio is a medieval hill town in the province of Perugia, halfway between Rome and Florence. Preserving over 2000 years of history, the cities and hill towns of Umbria and nearby Tuscany are landmarks of European culture. Many were built over four eras - Etruscan, Roman, Medieval and Renaissance. The surrounding landscape is patterned with vineyards, olive groves and sunflower fields, etched with rows of cypresses and umbrella pines.
In this environment, you will paint and sculpt under the same light that spawned the Western world's greatest art. Here is the architecture and countryside that inspired Renaissance artists and later masters like Poussin, Ingres and Corot. One can see why the region still attracts artists from all over the world.
A beautifully preserved medieval borgo, Montecastello looks much like it did 500 years ago. A fortress wall surrounds the tiny heart-shaped town, with vast panoramas all around and a tranquil little park at one edge. This delightful village is our campus, with the School's facilities based in a complex of historic buildings.
Resident's rooms and studios are single-occupancy. Residents share modest apartments, and single rooms in the main building, all a few minutes walk from each other. The International School provides housecleaning services and clean sheets and towels weekly, but does not provide accommodations for spouses, pets or guests. Facilities in Montecastello are very basic and are not suitable for people with special needs.
Studios are in several great stone palazzi in the village. Residents have 24-hour access to their private studios. Throughout the ancient town and out in the landscape are wonderful motifs and views to paint.
A model poses for open drawing sessions 3 days per week. During non-working hours, residents have access to the school's art library, telephone, computer with Internet access, and video collection. Painting and drawing materials are available at the School Art Supply Store and sculptors are provided with clay and plaster. Studios are open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
Studio View, dining terrace view
The program fee includes three delicious Umbrian meals each day, excluding trip days. Residents enjoy meals together in the dining room, or on the scenic terrace, looking out over the Umbrian landscape. Meals are simple and wholesome, with fresh produce from nearby farms and prepared with care by our local cooks.
The ongoing studio work from intense observation and analysis is interspersed with weekly day-trips to study Italy's millennia-old heritage of art, from ancient to contemporary, engaging artists in a dialogue with the masterworks of the past and present. We travel by chartered bus to Rome, Florence, Siena, Assisi, Perugia, Bologna, Sansepolcro, and Arezzo (see the Student Sourcebook for the scheduled trips).
A faculty member or visiting lecturer gives preparatory lectures to enrich and enliven our trips. Residents are then free to go independently or in groups to visit museums and churches, or anything they wish to see. The Student Sourcebook contains a guide for our trips and other travel information. Residents may organize informal visits to nearby towns like Orvieto and Spoleto, or return to places the group has visited. Car rental services and public transportation enable people to travel independently.
Candidates should submit: the completed application form, letters of recommendation from two people who know your character and your work (preferably current or former teachers for School applicants), 12 slides, photos or a CD of your recent work. School applicants should include at least four slides of drawings; CE applicants may include an essay in lieu of slides, although slides are preferable.
The Residency fee and CE fee includes studio space, a single room, three meals a day, group trips, and ground transportation from and to Fiumicino airport in Rome on the first and last day of each session. Residents and CE students may apply for less than a full session. Fees are calculated by number of weeks:
3-week May session: 2100 Euro
3-week August - September session: 2500 Euro
Two weeks: 2000 Euro
One week: 1000 Euro
Independent Residencies are also available during the School sessions (May - August) for the same price as the School session. Residents may take advantage of classes as they choose, and request faculty critiques.
All fees must be received no later than one month before the session begins. Fees are calculated in Euros and include 20% IVA (value-added tax).
| Artist's Residency and CE | |
| April 19 - May 3 (2 weeks) | € 2000 |
| May 3 - 24 (3 weeks) | € 2100 |
| August 16 - 30 (2 weeks, including seminar) | € 2000 |
| Aug. 30 - Sept. 20 (3 weeks) | € 2500 |
| Sept. 20 - October 4 (2 weeks) | € 2000 |
| Weekly (all sessions) | € 1000 |
Bring a friend to the Residency or CE program and get 10% DISCOUNT (250 Euro). Your friend must also apply and be accepted for a full 3-week session. Use the Request Information form to refer your friend.
Other discounts are available to groups of 4 or more; please email the school for more information.
| One of the "Top 10 Residency Programs Around the Globe." - ARTINFO | Member of the Alliance of Artists' Communities | Member of Res Artis, The International Association of Residential Arts Centres |
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Former residents' show from The Wichita Eagle
Posted on Sun, Jan. 25, 2004
Go See It! THIS WEEK'S GALLERY: Clayton Staples Gallery, McKnight Art Center, WSU campus
What: "WSU & ISA: IV," a group show featuring art created during the 2003 artist residency program at the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy.
Artists' comments: "Everywhere you looked around the perimeter of the town was a landscape," said Rosemary Dugan, a participant in the show. "The sunset colors were wonderful. The colors would just wash the landscape and turn it kind of ochre and orange. But up on the distant hills you'd have kind of a pink, a real subtle red-violet."
"I had this great view from my room every morning," Judy Dove said. "You look at little walls and little gardens and old wooden doors that have been there who-knows-how-long. And because of the weather you could be out a lot and walk a lot. It wasn't like in a neighborhood here, where you walk three or four blocks, it's the same. There when you walk three or four blocks you're in a walled castle city."
"The light was different; the colors were softer," Carole Ranney said. "You expect sunny Italy to be very rich and vibrant, but there were a lot of earth tones. It opens your mind because it is different than what you have been painting. The colors are different, so you have to start looking to see, OK, how can I capture this?"
"The thing we were struck by the most was the sort of cut-out patches of sky you get glimpses of as you are moving through these medieval streets," said Jonathan Stevens, who worked collaboratively with artist Jennifer Locke. "It is like looking at the background of a Giotto painting, those geometric angles and stuff. We became almost obsessed with that, and it was strictly because we were in this medieval hill town in Umbria. It completely changed our sensibility about what is above us."
When: Through Feb. 6. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Artists' reception: A free reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday. How much: Admission is free. Information: 978-3555
Chris Shull
The International School of
Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture
The Student Sourcebook
Application for Admission
Comments or Request
Information
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