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=Italy=

Introduction:
Italy, or as it is officially known as The Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe bordering France on its northwest point and Slovenia on its northeastern side. The Italian government at times has been extremely unstable, until World War II ended and the constitution of 1948 was drafted. This legislation turned the occasionally unstable government into a fine tuned democratic machine. The Italian population is a predominantly Catholic one, and most citizens speak one of the many Italian dialects. Even though speaking Italian is the norm, there are small pockets of German, French and Slavic speaking people. While governments and the types of people in Italy changed one constant remained throughout the Italian history, art. Italy owns a rich history of art and culture dating back to the Etruscans, who were the predecessors to the mighty Romans. Because Italy is the heart of the papacy and an integral part of the Renaissance, religious and progressive art forms have been pouring out of the country for centuries.

Schools:
Italy has a very strong education program, especially with the Reggio schools that are for preschoolers. This age is crucial for learning because it is the first exposure that most children have in an actual classroom-like setting; young children are very impressionable and learn quickly. Unfortunately, Italy’s secondary schools are not as strongly rooted in the arts. This could be because “general arts education is not systematically endorsed in Italy's primary and secondary school system. … though, it should be mentioned that, due to the outstanding wealth of artistic heritage, art history has traditionally been included in the curriculum of high schools.” ([]) Also, it should be noted that, “ Italy "owns" more than 70% of artistic heritage in the world, according to UNESCO. Sicily is the place where this long and beautiful art history tradition started more than 2.500 years ago.” ([])

Reggio schools are a very positive aspect of the Italian education system. These preschools are not typical of those seen in the United States, they foster learning through multiple outlets and encourage the teachers to frequently collaborate. “The Reggio approach invites children to explore, in multiple, comfortable ways, the physical world, the biological world, and the social world; it furnishes evocative materials with which to capture one’s impressions; it shares the insights with the rest of the community; and it models a set of respectful human relations that should extend throughout the life cycle.” (Gardner, 1999) It is interesting the amount of documentation that is done in Reggio schools; teachers are constantly recording what is happening in the classroom to learn from every day experiences. Reggio schools are often imitated around the world, but have never been duplicated. Another positive aspect of these schools is the free, public, education. This education system is only possible from the tight partnerships of the entire community; parents, teachers and children all work together to create a visionary foundation for enriching educational practices. 

Artist Profile:
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci is easily the most famous artist from Italy, and possibly the most renowned and revered artist ever on Earth. Furthermore he was not just an artist but the archetype Renaissance man, because of his love and devotion to not only the arts but also science, math and writing. Da Vinci was born April 14, 1452 in the Tuscan town of Vinci. As the illegitimate son, of a legal notary and peasant he was given no formal last name, so his last name Da Vinci simply means of “of Vinci”. While there is much debate over his early life, historians do agree that he was given some sort of informal education focusing on Latin, mathematics and geometry. By the time he was 14, da Vinci was apprenticing in Verrocchio’s workshop where he fine tuned skills technical skills in drafting, mechanics and chemistry as well as artistic skills including: drawing, painting, sculpting and modeling. These skills would later turn da Vinci into one of the most respected painters of all time. Leonardo da Vinci’s early works would pave the way for his unique brand of creativity and inspiration to be unleashed upon the world. One of his early masterpieces, Virgin of the Rocks, showcased the Italian thirst for graceful religious paintings and exemplified how having a complicated architecture in a painting is not essential to be moving and beautiful. Virgin of the Rocks, finished in the 1480s, shows the infant Jesus being worshiped by John the Baptist on the way to Egypt, this was much different from earlier paintings commissioned by the monks of St. Donato which featured around fifty people and an intensely complicated landscape. This was a huge turning point in his career. His most famous piece of artwork, The Last Supper, was painted in the 1490s and again featured a simple background with only a few people in the portrait. The painting depicts Jesus’ last meal with his disciples and is supposed to take place at the moment Jesus says “One of you will betray me.” One of his later paintings, Mona Lisa, is considered a masterpiece and is possibly more famous than The Last Supper. Da Vinci’s delicate touch makes this painting so unique. Because of the subtle, mysterious smile on the face of Mona Lisa scholars consider this portrait more human than painting. He later died at the age of 67 on May 2, 1519, but not before he left his mark on the artistic and scientific communities. His work will be studied and pondered over for centuries to come.

Arts Organization:
The Studio Arts International, or SACI, was founded in 1975 in Florence, Italy and made into a US non-profit organization in 1976. SACI offers undergraduate and graduate level programs in studio art, design and also liberal arts. The school immerses students into Italian culture and “SACI also aims, by focusing on integrating students into Italian society and opening up Italian skills and resources to them, to help creative persons maximize their foreign study experience.” ( [] ). By offering a plethora of art programs ranging from two-dimensional drawing and painting, to art history and conservation, SACI offers a wide range of opportunities for the creative minded populations of the educated world. According to the SACI website “ The student is made to feel the limits and the possibilities of the page and to explore alternative ways of treating space and composition,”( []), so the SACI is an ideal place for an aspiring artist to thrive. Furthermore the SACI employs a faculty from all over the world so the students are treated to perspectives of art experts with highly differing views and interpretations of art.

Many successful artists have come out of SACI including 2009 Premio Celeste Award winner Paul Beel. Beel, a former instructor and student won worldwide recognition with his painting //Uomo nudo davanti a Dio o autoritratto con sacchetto,// // meaning man naked before God. Information // // regarding Italian arts programs in Italy are extremely hard to come by on the internet because the only information avilable is on study abroad programs or US affiliates. This website did not include any information about programs offered in specific schools or the community. //

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