January 2023 – During the first weeks of the year, the Institute was pleased to welcome Prof. Pacchioni and his students from Chapman University. This special program was conceived to allow its participants to design and carry out individualized research projects while visiting Florence’s major museums and signature establishments of the city’s creative industries. The travel course was the result of a partnership between Chapman University and ISI Florence. Students availed themselves of the mentorship of Dr. Federico Pacchioni before, during, and after the stay, interviewed experts in various sectors of the arts and business, and collaborated with Italian peers from the University of Florence.
Bookbinding at Il Papiro Firenze
Paper Marbling Workshop
Irene Schiatti, Coordinator for Custom Programs at ISI Florence, told us about the organizational aspect of the program, “It was very interesting to design this new program from scratch, trying to apply Prof. Pacchioni’s ideas to actual activities. The main challenge was to expose students to immersive educational experiences. Every activity we propose can have an impact on each student: visits to workshops or guided tours of Renaissance museums, meeting with craftsmen and passionate speakers able to convey the best of Italian culture, history, art, and the secrets of ancient crafts. It was great to see Chapman students actively engage, appreciating this unique opportunity. From my point of view, as Coordinator for Custom Programs and working alongside faculty to devise new special programs, it is always rewarding when, through these study experiences, young learners discover their identities and become smart and brave, thus getting ready for new endeavors.”
Below, student Ashton Titus reflects on her experience and shares her video project.
“During the Italian Renaissance, many artists came to fame by pushing the boundaries of their mediums. While inspired by similar themes of their time, each artist interpreted these themes uniquely. This solo, entitled Nel Giardino di Medusa (or In the Garden of Medusa), demonstrates the work I might have created as a contemporary dance choreographer living in the Italian Renaissance. In a travel course to Florence, entitled The Beauty of Ideas and headed by Dr. Federico Pacchioni, I studied Renaissance paintings, sculpture, and architecture to find the common themes among them, as well as gather direct material that I could use in my choreographic process. My thought was that if I could determine what inspired the masters of the time, I too could be inspired by those themes. Three common threads I found were a thematic foundation in mythology––be it Christian, Greek, or Roman––a sense of richness and grandeur, and a remarkable amount of detail filling every available inch. Knowing this, I was able to embed these qualities and themes into my original solo.
In the spirit of pushing boundaries and evolving art forms, I chose to make a dance film and experiment with technical elements as well as choreographic ones. By freezing and overlaying certain frames, I was able to create the illusion of statues similar to those that I saw in the Uffizi Gallery and Galleria dell’Accademia. I also chose to diverge from the mainstream portrayal of Medusa as a fierce warrior-type and instead show her as almost lonely, filling her empty garden with stone companions.
My time spent in Florence with Dr. Pacchioni was one of the most inspiring periods of my life. Through making this solo, I have developed a somatic memory of Florence and the Italian Renaissance that I will treasure forever.”