Civitella Ranieri Foundation

The Civitella Ranieri Foundation is an American artists’ community located at a 15th-century castle in the Umbria region of Italy.[1][2][3]

Civitella Ranieri Foundation
TypeArtist Colony
Location
  • Umbertide, Italy
Websitehttp://www.civitella.org/
Civitella Ranieri Castle

The Foundation provides four sessions of six-week long unstructured residencies every year to visual artists, writers and composers; and, occasionally, it organizes events for the general public.[4][2][3][5][6][7]

Founded by arts philanthropist Ursula Corning in 1995. In the last decade of her life, Ursula often wondered aloud, "What will become of my dear Civitella after I die? Will it be turned into a dusty museum?" It was at this time, with the help of Gordon Knox and Cecilia Galiena, that she began to grow Civitella's current arts program.[8][9] Civitella Ranieri Foundation has hosted over 800 Fellows and Director's Guests from across the globe.[10][11][3][7]

History

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Ranieri Family Coat Of Arms

Civitella Ranieri is an early Renaissance castle in Umbria. The Ranieri family, a noble Italian bloodline, first settled in Perugia and has owned the land since the early 11th century. Ursula Corning, a distant relative to the Ranieri family, turned the castle into the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, which started operating as an artist residency in 1995.[12][10][3][7]

Foundation

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Each residency community at Civitella Ranieri Foundation is selected by a jury, and it brings together 12-15 international artists, writers and composers at pivotal moments in their careers.[3][10][13][7][14]

The Foundation provides studio space, accommodation, board, and covers travel expenses.[10][3]

Dana Prescott has been the Foundation's Executive Director since 2007.[7]

Notable alumni

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Civitella Ranieri Fellows have been awarded numerous honors, including Pulitzer Prize, Guggenheim Fellowships, Fulbright Grants, National Endowment for the Arts Grants and Fellowships, and MacArthur Foundation Grants.[15][16] Compositions by Civitella Ranieri Music Fellows have been performed by symphonies worldwide and have received awards such as the Grammy’s; Civitella Ranieri Visual Arts Fellows are represented in museum collections and exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial; Writing Fellows have received awards such as the National Book Award.[17][18]

Notable fellows

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Film

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Music

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Writing

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Visual Arts

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Notable Director’s Guests

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A select number of Director’s Guests are invited to join each residency session. Notable Director’s Guests include Vivien Greene (2016), Rosanna Warren (2015), Fred Hersch (2013), Ann Beattie (2013), Tobias Wolff (2012), John Eaton (2011), Mark Strand (2008 and 2011), James Siena (2010), and Yehudi Wyner (2009).[17]

References

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  1. ^ Moskin, Julia (2016-09-13). "Umbria, Italy's Best-Kept Culinary Secret, Is Budding". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  2. ^ a b Casey, Nell (2012-10-26). "Frescoes and Festivals in an Umbrian Town". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Civitella Ranieri- A haven for international artists | www.italianinsider.it". www.italianinsider.it. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  4. ^ TAN, Cheryl Lu-lien (October 10, 2014). "Want to Get Into an Artists' Retreat? Go as a Tourist". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  5. ^ "MYSTERY AND RAPTURE: LANDSCAPES BY FOUR". paintingperceptions.com. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  6. ^ "INTERVIEW: Drew Daniel on living in an Italian castle, suicide, and plastic! – Never Nervous". www.never-nervous.com. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  7. ^ a b c d e "A portrait of two ladies in Umbria at Civitella Ranieri". L’Huffington Post (in Italian). 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  8. ^ "Civitella Mission & History". app.civitella.org.
  9. ^ Reynolds Broome, Diana. "Master of the Arts". dianarr. South Bay Accent. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  10. ^ a b c d "Community spirit". The Spectator Archive. 17 June 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  11. ^ Chow, Low Lai (23 February 2016). "10 Cool Art Retreats Across the Globe". Blouin Art Info. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  12. ^ Chee, Alexander. "Go Away - The Morning News". www.themorningnews.org. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  13. ^ Sciolino, Elaine. "A Storied Ceramics Workshop Where Visiting Artists Can Get to Work". T Magazine. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  14. ^ Press-Republican, ROBIN CAUDELL. "The world is his poetry". Press-Republican. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  15. ^ a b MacDonald, Soraya Nadia (17 September 2014). "Alison Bechdel just won a MacArthur Foundation 'genius' grant; She's already changed the way we talk about film". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  16. ^ a b "About". Civitella Ranieri Foundation. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  17. ^ a b exhibit-e.com. "Fellows List - Fellows - Civitella Ranieri". www.civitella.org. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  18. ^ "Best-selling writer visits campus | The Anchor". The Anchor. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  19. ^ "Joan Wadleigh Curran". Civitella Ranieri Foundation. Fellow (2017), Visual Arts, USA. 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2023-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ^ penmanila (2012-07-01). "Penman No. 2: Three Malaysian Artists". Pinoy Penman 3.0. Retrieved 2017-02-23.