ACI Artists, Writers and Scholars Residency
Corciano, Italy
Don Kimes, Artistic Director. Lois Jubeck, Managing Director
2021 Residency Dates:
We are currently accepting applications for the summer 2021 residency season. Because of uncertain-
ties surrounding COVID-19 vaccination schedules in the United States we are planning to offer a late summer (late July to early September) residencies.
Session 1: July 24-August 7
(arrive July 24, depart morning of August 7)
Session 2: August 7-16
(arrive August 7, depart morning of August 21)
Session 3: August 21-September 4
(arrive August 21, depart September 4)
Don Kimes will not be present for session 3 -
(this session is tentative, depending on interest, at this point)
*All participants must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination before and on arrival in Italy
It is possible to do two consecutive sessions for a longer residency period. Please contact us via email if you would like to receive additional information. We will begin reviewing applications for the 2021 program on February 15, 2021 and will continue to review them until May 15th, 2021.
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ACI - Art and Culture in Italy
Artists and writers need other artists and writers in order to exceed their individual possibilities. We need uninterrupted time to focus on our work, and we also share a need for meaningful dialogue. We have established the Art and Culture in Italy (ACI) residency because we believe this kind of opportunity can be especially productive in this historic location in central Italy, a place which, for millennia, has been a focal point for creative possibility.
From the Etruscans, who first settled Corciano more than 2,500 years ago (before the Romans existed) to Perugino, Raphael, and Piero della Francesca, to the contemporary artists who have settled in this region known for it's mystical beauty, Umbria has always been a place where transformative thought and creative possibility meet.
Willem de Kooning once remarked "you learn a lot just by talking with other artists". Artists, art historians, critics, poets and writers have always benefitted when kind of ambient synergy exists. Historically, the collaboration between artists and writers has proven mutually supportive. Cezanne and Zola, Gertrude Stein and Picasso, Lee Krasner and Harold Rosenberg, all come to mind as examples of this symbiosis. The ACI residency program in Umbria is dedicated to creating an environment where artists and writers are able to pursue their craft in a focused manner, with possibilities for the incubation of their own interests and the opportunity to develop ambient dialogue in close proximity to one another.
The Bell Tower in Corciano. Over the alter in this nearby church you'll find a major painting by Perugino, the teacher of Raphael.
Above and below: The entrance to the 400 year old Villa Pieve, where we often have an evening meal and also periodically use some of the spaces for lectures, group meetings and other special events
Below: The courtyard at Villa Pieve is one of many quiet places for working, thinking, drawing, writing...
Below: One of many views from the grounds
Above: The terrace near our workspaces
Below:
Left: The terrace adjoining our rooms
Center: Piero della Francesca in nearby Perugia
Right: Daily dinner in the villa
Things aren't all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsayable than all other things are works of art, those mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life.
Rainer Maria Rilke