Contemporary art meets schools: "Giving Figure" project kicks off in Lucca

A journey through dreams, memory and creativity. This is the proposal of Dare Figura, the new contemporary art program for schools in the Province of Lucca, conceived and promoted by the Sentiment of Beauty odv association for the 2024/2025 school year. The initiative aims to explore the concept of “Figure” in its many facets through a rich calendar of meetings, workshops and museum visits. The project will culminate in a final exhibition featuring works created by students.

Giving Figure is not limited to considering figurative representation in works of art, but investigates the moment of creation, that “giving form” that follows ideation. The approach, therefore, is multidisciplinary and involves art historians, artists and musicians of national and international renown.

The program: meetings and visits between art and culture

The program opened last Tuesday, November 5, in the Vincenzo da Massa Carrara Hall in San Micheletto, Lucca, with a conversation between art historian Luigi Ficacci and art duo Antonello Ghezzi, entitled Investigation of the human being seen from afar. The meeting explored dreams, relationships and desires, central themes in the artistic research of Nadia Antonello (Cittadella, 1985) and Paolo Ghezzi (Bologna, 1980), who combine science, poetry and technology to create evocative works such as blue traffic lights, star maps and soap bubbles that symbolically break down walls.

The meetings will continue throughout the school year with a schedule that includes prominent personalities. The next meeting is Dec. 4: artist Eva Marisaldi and musician Enrico Serotti at the Pecci Center in Prato, where students will visit the collection accompanied by director Stefano Collicelli Cagol. Then, on Jan. 14, art historian Luisa Berretti will delve into the drawings of Bernardino and Pietro Nocchi at Palazzo Mansi, Lucca. On Jan. 14 and 16, there will be a “Figures of Memory” workshop with sculptor Lorenzo Vignoli, who will guide students from discovering sculptures in the Palazzo Mansi Museum to creating works displayed in an exhibition in April. On Feb. 5, journalist Federico Giannini will illustrate the development of the Figure in Lucca’s Neoclassicism with a lecture and subsequent visit to Palazzo Mansi. On Feb. 21, Arianna Baldoni will explore the poetics of artist Yoko Ono at the GAMC in Viareggio, with the involvement of director Alessandra Belluomini Pucci. On March 12, Cristina Acidini will analyze the female figure in Pre-Raphaelite art, with a focus on nineteenth-century English and its Italian influences.

Education and discovery for students and faculty

In addition to the meetings, visits to iconic art venues such as the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato, the Palazzo Mansi Museum and the GAMC in Viareggio are planned. These activities, open to students and faculty, provide a unique opportunity to come into direct contact with art and engage with museum directors.

The program is recognized for the purposes of professional development for teachers and the acquisition of PCTO hours (Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation) for students. Participation is free, but seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The initiative is supported by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Banca Generali Private - Paolo Tacchi and the Real Collegio di Lucca. Also collaborating are the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence, the Fondazione Centro Studi sull’Arte Licia and Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, and the Tuscany Regional Museums Directorate of the Ministry of Culture. The project also has the didactic collaboration of ANISA - National Association of Teachers of Art History and the participation of Centro Pecci and with the patronage of MIUR, School Office IX of Lucca and Massa Carrara, Tuscany Region, Province of Lucca, City of Lucca, City of Viareggio and Fondazione Italia patria della bellezza.

The curatorship of Sentiment of Beauty odv represents a bridge between contemporary art and the school world, with the aim of raising awareness among the younger generations of the value of art as a tool for awareness and historical memory. For information and reservations, you can contact info@sentimentofbeauty.it.

Calendar of meetings

Contemporary art meets schools: "Giving Figure" project kicks off in Lucca

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