Ceramics in Tuscany

Monday, October 17, 2011
Travel Day | Dependent on Location of Departure

Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Florence | Arrival

Attendees should plan to arrive at the Florence airport mid morning to early afternoon on Tuesday, October 18.

After arrival at the airport, attendees will need to get to the hotel, Casa Santo Nome DiGesu. Attendees can take a bus (estimated 5 Euros) from the airport to the Florence Train Station: Santa Maria Nouvella. The hotel is a 15 minute walk from the train station, or take a taxi from the airport to the hotel (estimated 39 Euros).

If you arrive before check in at 4 pm, your luggage can be left at the hotel until you can check in.

Casa Santo Nome DiGesu
(Convent of Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena)
Piazza del Carmine
21 – 50124 Firenze
Tel. 055 21 38 56 
Fax: 055 28 18 35
E-mail: info@fmmfirenze.it  and op-casasantonomedigesu@alice.it
Website: www.fmmfirenze.it

The house “Casa Santo Nome di Gesu” is a convent containing several guest rooms in the heart of the city. The ancient 15th century palace is within walking distance of the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti and the Cathedral.

It is located on the Oltra Arno, other side of the Arno River away from the crowds. Our accommodations offer a tranquil garden and peaceful relaxation. Located on the Piazza de Santa Carmine, adjacent to Brancacci Chapel. The chapel’s fresco by Masaccio include portraits of the leading citizens of the moment including Brunelleschi, architect of the Duomo.

Doors open at 6:30am | Doors Close at 11:30pm | Breakfast 8-9am

Schedule for Tuesday:

Arrival to 6pm | Free time to explore the area

• Ponte Vecchio -  Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of Florence’s six bridges, is one of the city’s best known images. Probably going back to Roman times with its stone pillars and wooden planks.

  

• Cathedral – A distinctive feature of Florence’s skyline is the dome of the cathedral (Duomo), Santa Maria del Fiore. The building itself, located due north of the Piazza della Signoria, was begun by the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296.

   
  

6-7pm | Welcome by Claudia from La Meridiana and Carolyn from Potters Council

7pm  | Dinner (included) A typical Italian dinner with first course and  second course along with water and wine.

11:30pm | Hotel closes doors, must be back before 11:30pm.

Schedule for the Wednesday:

8am | Breakfast at Hotel (included)

9:15am | Museum: Bargello

• Via del Proconsolo, 4Tel. +39 055 2388-606, e-mail: museobargello@polomuseale.firenze.it

• Bargello- The Bargello finally became a sculpture museum in 1886, the year in which the fifth centenary of Donatello’s birth was celebrated. Two years later, the museum received a generous gift of Gothic and Renaissance artifacts from the French antiquarian, Louis Carrand, followed, in 1894, by a donation made by Costantino Ressman, ambassador and collector of weapons. In 1907, Giulio Franchetti donated his collection of fabrics with examples dating from the 6th to 18th centuries.

  On display in the Michelangelo Room are works by that great Renaissance artist: the so-called Drunken Bacchus, sculpted in Rome between 1497 and 1499; the marble tondo with the Madonna and Child and the Child St John, carried out in 1504 for Bartolomeo Pitti; the David-Apollo, marble statue, begun in 1531; the Brutus, marble bust carried out around 1540; as well as the Bacchus, marble statue, sculpted by Jacopo Sansovino around 1520, the bronze bust of Cosimo I by Benvenuto Cellini; also on display another outstanding example of 16th-century sculpture, Giambologna’s splendid Mercury, a bronze from 1564. On display in the cabinet are a number of beautiful bronze animals made by the same artist around 1567 for the Medici villa in Castello.

  In 1886, the huge room that was the former Great Council Chamber was used to display the works of Donatello and of other Florentine Renaissance sculptors: among the works of the maestro were the David, a beautiful bronze carried out for Cosimo the Elder around 1430; a marble David, considered one of his early works; the Marzocco, the symbol of the city of Florence; the bust of a Youth and the bust of Niccolò da Uzzano.

  Also on display in this room are two panels depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac made by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi for the competition for the second bronze door of the Baptistery. The Bargello’s majolica collection owes much to the Medici’s passion for collecting, in particular that of Cosimo I, who particularly appreciated the art of ceramics and porcelain-making.

  Thanks to many gifts, also by modern collectors, the room offers a practically complete panorama of the history of Italian majolica: extremely rare 15th-century pieces from the Cafaggiolo and Deruta workshops, and, from the 16th century, important examples of Urbino and Faenza majolica, as well as splendid examples of Venice majolica also covering the following century.

  Two whole rooms are dedicated to the glazed terracotta works by Giovanni and Andrea della Robbia, among which we should mention the Nativity, belonging to Giovanni’s mature period, the Noli me tangere, made by Giovan Francesco Rustici and glazed by Giovanni and, among Andrea’s works, a bust-portrait of a youth, possibly Pietro di Lorenzo de’ Medici.

  Since 1873, the Verrocchio Room has housed Tuscan works from the second half of the Quattrocento; the best represented artist is obviously Andrea Verrocchio, who gave his name to the room. Dominating the centre of the room is his famous bronze David commissioned by the Medici family.

12pm | Lunch: (not included)

1:38pm |  Train to Pistoia | Arrive 2:16 (Travel Time: 38 minutes)

• Our interest is in the three generations of della Robbias represented throughout the city. After a half hour train ride from Florence, we’ll walk to the Church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas just outside the city’s walls. There we’ll see Luca Della Robbias masterpiece, The Visitation, created in 1445. It is a rare example of a completely ‘in the round sculpture.”

  

  About Luca Della Robbia: (1400–1482) He was an Italian sculptor from Florence, noted for his terra-cotta roundels.

  Luca Della Robbia developed a pottery glaze that made his creations more durable in the outdoors and thus suitable for use on the exterior of buildings. His work is noted for its charm rather than the drama of the work of some of his contemporaries. Two of his famous works are The Nativity, circa 1460 and Madonna and Child, circa 1475. He is the first of a dynasty of important pottery artists: Andrea della Robbia (his nephew) and Giovanni della Robbia (his grandnephew, son of Andrea).

  Della Robbia was praised by his compatriot Leon Battista Alberti for genius comparable to that of the sculptors Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi, and the painter Masaccio. By ranking him with contemporary artists of this stature, Alberti reminds us of the interest and strength of Luca’s work in marble and bronze, as well as in the terra-cottas always associated with his name.

• Next we’ll pass by the Palazzo de Pretoria or Hall of Justice to see the Coats of Arms of the City Families and in the Bell Tower by Andrea della Robbia. Andrea also was commissioned for the “Mother and Child” Lunette in the doorway of the Duomo.

  

• From there we go to the last great work by the della Robbia Workshop, the Frieze at the Ospedale del Ceppo by Giovanni della Robbia and Santi Buglioni. This remarkable ceramic frieze done in 1525 depicts the Seven Acts of Mercy.

   

4:12pm |  Train to Florence | Arrive 5pm (Travel Time: 40 minutes)

5pm-11pm | Free Time and Dinner on Own

• Attendees will be provided a list of local restaurants at different price points. Have a relaxing evening enjoying Italian Cuisine.

11:30pm | Hotel closes doors, must be back before 11:30pm.

Thursday, October 20, 2011
Day Trip to Pisa
A fun filled, culturally rich day trip to the well-known city of Pisa is planned. This includes a walking tour and a visit to the San Matteo Museum in the afternoon.

Schedule for the Thursday:

8am | Breakfast at Hotel (included)

9:27am | Train to Pisa | Arrive 10:29am (Travel Time: 1 hour and 2 minutes)

10:30am| Walking Tour of Pisa along the Arno River

• A trip to Pisa to see “en sitio” Architectural Ceramics dating from the 11th and 12th centuries when Pisa ruled the seas, thru the Baroque and Belle Epoque on a walking tour. At the Campo dei Miracoli we can visit the Duomo, Baptistry, and the Camposanto cemetery where frescos from the plaque and a Della Robbia mural have been preserved after destruction by bombs during WWII. There is the opportunity for an optional climb of the Leaning Tower where Galileo tested his theory of Gravity in the 16th century. Galileo was a student at the University of Pisa and later became a faculty member there.

  At the Campo dei Miracoli we can visit the Duomo, Baptistry, and the Camposanto cemetery where frescos from the plaque and a Della Robbia mural have been preserved after destruction by bombs during WWII. There is the opportunity for an optional climb of the Leaning Tower where Galileo tested his theory of Gravity in the 16th century. Galileo was a student at the University of Pisa and later became a faculty member there.

  During the 11th and 12th Centuries Pisa was a major nautical power and demonstrated its wealth with booty, Ceramic Majolica Chargers embedded into church walls for decoration. We’ll see Terra cotta facades, window surrounds and more on the stroll from the train station to the Duomo.  There are numerous museums around the Duomo.

  An afternoon visit to the Museum Nazionale di San Matteo housed in the former residence of the Medicis and Lorena courts. Among items in the collection are the original maiolica charges that adorned Basilica of San Piero a Grado, built on the site of the Roman port where St. Peter arrived in Italy.

  Note: If you would like to walk up the Tower of Pisa, there will be an extra charge.

For more information on Pisa, visit: http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a-trip/leaning-tower-of-pisa.html

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was recently restored, you might find this link interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11990489

Lunch | On Your Own (not included)

After Lunch | Museum: San Matteo (included)

• Lungarno Mediceo
  Piazza San Matteo 1
  Pisa
  Italy IT (Italia)

  Tel: +39 (0)50 565 047

  The Museo Nazionale di San Matteo (National Museum of St. Matthew) is situated on the banks of the River Arno, in the ancient convent of the nuns of San Matteo. Containing a number of interesting collections and attractions, including paintings and sculptures dating from between the 12th and 18th centuries, Pisa’s Museo Nazionale di San Matteo features many early Tuscan paintings. 

5:32pm | Train to Florence | Arrive 6:33pm (Travel Time: 1 hour and 1 minute)

8pm | Dinner (included) A typical Italian dinner with first course and  second course along with water and wine.

11:30pm | Hotel closes doors, must be back before 11:30pm.

Friday, October 21, 2011
Leave for Faenza
We will be heading to Faenza for a two night stay with side trip to Ravenna. We will only be taking  our small bag with us to keep travel light. La Meridiana will be picking up our large suitcase and taking it to La Meridiana. Attendees will need to be packed and ready for early travel.

About Faenza
In the history of ceramics, the tin glaze ware from Faenza that was exported to France and the rest of Europe in the 16th century, took on the name from its place of origin. Faenza ware became known as Faience. Tin glaze, previously known as Majolica or the Italian name Maiolica gained its name from being traded through the port of Majorca. At the time, 13th to 15th centuries, it was illegal to trade directly with Moorish Spain, the producers of tin glazed ware and the more decorative tin glazed Lusterware.

During the Renaissance in the cities of Deruta, Gubbia and Faenza as well as other cities, the decorative painting on tin glaze reached new heights. In the International Museum of Ceramics the collection holds some true treasures of Italian Renaissance Tin Glaze. According to the curator at the Ashmolean Museum in Cambridge, during the Victorian era, Renaissance decorated Faience sold at auction for higher prices than Tintoretto paintings.

Today there are traditional workshops as well as contemporary ceramic artists working in the city. We’ll visit several studios representing both venues and the museum/home/studio of the late Carlo Zauli.

Schedule for Friday:

7:45am | Claudia from La Meridiana will be picking up our large suitcases

8am | Breakfast at Hotel (included)

9:40am |  Train to Faenza | Arrives 11:27;  (Travel Time: 1hr 47 min)

11:30am |  Walk to Hotel and either Check-In or drop bag

Hotel Vittoria
Corso Garibaldi n. 23
48018 Faenza (RA) Italia
Tel. +39 0546 21508
website: www.hotel-vittoria.com/english/index.html

Hotel Vittoria is in an ancient palace in the old town of Faenza, very near Piazza del Popolo, its central square. It is also near its more important museums, the MIC, International Museum of Ceramics, in which the most beautiful and complete collection of ceramics in the world has been arranged and the Museum Zauli, named after the most famous ceramics artist of Faenza.

12pm | Museum: Carlo Zauli House (included)

• Read more about Carlo Zauli

  

Lunch | On Your Own (not included)

After Lunch | Anatella Cimmatti – Local artist studio visit

8pm| Dinner (included)

About Ravenna
Ravenna was the 5th century Capital of the Western Roman Empire. Later in the 5th century and the 6th century Ravenna boasted of preserving the best examples of Early Christian and Byzantine Art in all of Italy. It was declared a Patrimony of Humanity by the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are workshops in mosaic restoration as well as contemporary mosaics displayed throughout the city. We will do a walking tour to the city sites including San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Apollinaire Nuovo, the Baptistry, and enjoy lunch in a local restaurant. 

San Vitale: the Empress Justinian in rich glass mosaics (6th century) are as vivid today as they were 1400 years ago.

Over time numerous writers, artists, composers and poets have been inspired by the beauty in this historic city. Boccaccio, Dante, Herman Hesse, Cole Porter, Gustav Klimt, Lord Byran have all created pieces in response to witnessing these works of art.

Most people visit the central Italian city of Ravenna for its superb Byzantine mosaics – and rightly so, for they are the finest outside Istanbul. A thriving seaport in ancient times (it now lies five miles inland), Ravenna rose to power in the 1st century BC under the Emperor Augustus. The Roman emperor built a port and naval base at nearby Classe, which is currently undergoing archaeological excavation. The town converted to Christianity very early, in the 2nd century AD. As Rome’s power declined, Ravenna took over as capital of the Western Empire (402 AD). The following century it came under the rule of Thedoric and the Arian Ostrogoths, and in 540 the city became part of the Byzantine empire under Justinian. Ravenna’s exquisite early Christian mosaics span the years of Roman, Ostrogothic and Byzantine rule. Today, Ravenna is a very pleasant town of about 140,000. It looks much like any other Italian city at first glance, with old streets, fine shops and peaceful squares, but the Byzantine domes of its churches still evoke its Eastern heritage. Ravenna’s early Christian churches and mosaics have been collectively designated a World Heritage Site. As an extra bonus, Ravenna is a great place to taste the famously delicious food of the Emilia-Romagna region.

Schedule for Saturday:

6:30am | Breakfast at Hotel (included)

7:52am |Train for Ravenna | Arrives 8:25 (Travel time: 33 minutes)

9:30am | Day Trip City Pass for Ravenna

• Includes the following: Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, Battistero Neoniano, Battistero degli Ariani,
  Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Cappella Arcivescovile o di Sant’Andrea, Mausoleo di Teodorico, and Basilica di San Vitale. Monuments are open from 9am-4:30pm.
     
  
• Galla Placidia (386-452) , Onorio’s sister, the Roman emperor that moved the capital of the western roman empire in 402 from Milan To Ravenna, had this small mausoleum built around 435-450, a building still today famous for it’s mosaics. The outside of the building is very simple, in contrast to the wealth of the mosaic decoration on the inside, the oldest in Ravenna. The mosaics line the walls of the “colte”, the lunettes and the dome. The iconographic themes developed in the decorations represent the victory of life over death, in agreement with the funeral destination of the building. Read more…

     

• The Neonian Bapistery (Battistero Neoniano, also known as the Battistero Ortodosso or Orthodox Baptistery) is an octagonal baptistery built in the 5th century. It is the oldest monument in Ravenna and contains some of the city’s most beautiful Byzantine mosaics. Read more…
  
     
  
• The Arian Baptistery (Battistero degli Ariani) stands in a small square next to the old Arian cathedral of Santo Spirito in Ravenna, Italy. It was built by the Ostrogothic ruler Theodoric at the end of the 5th century.  Nothing remains of the decorations that once covered the walls, but the dome still contains a beautifully restored mosaic depicting the baptism of Christ and the Twelve Apostles. The Arian version of the mosaic is simpler, with only one concentric circle instead of two and slightly more primitive-looking figures. Read more…

     

• The Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo is a 6th-century church in eastern Ravenna. Named for Ravenna’s first bishop, it is famed for its two side walls full of figurative mosaics dating from c.500 (under the Arian king Theodoric) and c.560 (under Catholic administration). Read more…

     

  

• Cappella Arcivescovile o di Sant’Andrea: Built as a private oratory during the reign of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, by Bishop Peter II, the chapel has a cross-shape and completely covered with marble vestibule at the bottom and mosaic decoration at the top. The Chapel is the only Orthodox monument built during the reign of Theodoric, when the cult was dominant. The iconography of the mosaics are of great interest: the glorification of Christ, whose presence dominates every part of the mosaic decoration, can be construed as anti-Aryan, and in particular the representations of the martyrs are a clear affirmation of orthodoxy.

     

• The Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna dates from the mid-6th century and contains what are probably the finest Byzantine mosaics in the western world.  San Vitale is a small domed church in the Byzantine architectural style. It has an octagonal plan, with a two-story ambulatory enclosing a central space beneath a great cupola. Attached at an angle to the west side is an entrance porch or narthex while a small choir and apse extends to the east. The great cupola is decorated with uninteresting 18th-century murals, but the remainder of the interior is fully Byzantine and provides an authentic atmosphere of antiquity. And most famously, the ceilings of the choir and apse glitter with magnificent Byzantine mosaics in green and gold. Read more…

     

12 pm | Lunch (not included)

1 pm | Continue with the Ravenna day pass

5:42 pm | Train for Faenza | Arrives 6:16 (Travel time: 33 minutes)

7 pm | Dinner On Your Own (not included)

Sunday, October 23, 2011
Faenza to Florence to Certaldo

8 am | Breakfast at Hotel (included)

9:30 am | Museum | International Ceramic Museum

• The International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza represents the greatest collection of ceramics in the world. The culture of ceramics from all over the world is shown in a display spanning centuries. In addition to the wide range of Italian and European ceramics dating from the Renaissance to the present day, visitors can also enjoy the collections of pre-Columbian American and Asian material. Contemporary Italian and International art by the most important artists of the 20th century is also represented.

  Currently over 3,500 works are displayed on a permanent basis in 9,000 square metres of exhibition space.  Read more…

  

12:00 pm | Lunch On Your Own (not included)

2:30 pm | Bus will pick us up at Hotel Vittoria

6:00 pm | Arrive at La Meridiana

• Dinner will be served and distribution of rooms

Monday, October 24, 2011
La Meridiana | Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast provided by La Meridiana

9 am | Introduction and Welcome from La Meridiana and Pietro Maddalena

9:30 am | Instructor Marcia Selsor | Digital presentation showing architectural use of terra cotta and Italian influences

10:30 am | Coffee Break

11 am | Group one will shop for food at the local market

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

2 pm | Group two will shop for food at the local market

3-6 pm | Instructor: Marcia Selsor | Attendees will learn how to make terra sigillata, roll out slabs to dry for upcoming project, and Marcia will demonstrate how to make a column. Attendees will make either two small pots or one large pot (thrown or coil built).

7 pm | Dinner on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

Tuesday, October 25, 2011
La Meridiana | Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

9 am | Instructor Pietro Maddalena | Attendees will make either two small pieces or one large piece for Buchchero firing. Forming of simple, slab built or thrown shapes, small and easy to take home

10:30 am | Coffee Break

11 am | Instructor Pietro Maddalena | Continue

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

2-5 pm | | Instructor Pietro Maddalena | Sgrafitto decoration

7:30 pm | Dinner and Reception

• A musical event with tenor singer and guitar to be held at La Meridiana, with invitation to local potters to join attendees.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
La Meridiana | Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

9 am | Instructor Marcia Selsor | Marcia will share how to make right angle jig, then how to assemble one arch segment. Marcia will share her secret on how to make an oval. Attendees will learn how to make birdbath, hump mold, decorative column.

10:30 am | Coffee Break

11 am | Instructor Marcia Selsor | Continue

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

3-5 pm | Instructor Marcia Selsor | Continue

6 pm | Dinner | Wine tasting at  Canto di Baccio

•  In the charming enoteca Canto di Baccio reigns a beautiful atmosphere of other times. The beautifully refurbished little “salon “ in medieval Barberino, overlooks the Elsa valley. The price winning vines of La Spinosa are displayed and while tasting, the knowable hosting lady Danila, will explain it’s making and the characterizing treats.

  A carefully selected choice of local cheeses, mainly made out of sheep milk, from fresh to more aged, cured meats, olives and other fine foods are the perfect complement to a fresh white and brilliant, full bodied reds of different vintages.

  A rarely found, true specialty is the sweet dessert wine made of late harvested grapes. All of the golden autumn beauty seems to be concentrated in it. The numbered bottles are taken in high account.

  Taste it while exploring the truth about renowned Tuscan chocolate valley. Small producers have started to combine first choice chocolate to unexpected ingredients like rosemary, chilli pepper and even truffles.

  A smooth grappa will close this sensorial experience.

  Choice of one  white and two reds
  Dessert wine
  Grappa
  Selection of cheese
  Chocolate

  

Thursday, October 27, 2011
La Meridiana | Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

9 am | Instructor Marcia Selsor and Pietro Maddalena | Attendees and Instructors will load kiln and fire bucherro and terra sigillata.

10:30 am | Coffee Break

11 am | Instructor Marcia Selsor and Pietro Maddalena | Technical explanation of terra sig and bucchero firing process. Pietro will share his own test pieces so attendees can see variations.

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

1:30 pm | Clean-up Studio after lunch

4:30 pm | Leave for Certaldo Alto

• Certaldo Alto is a medieval hilltown with Etruscan roots in Tuscany between Florence and Siena. It’s historic center is compact and easy to walk around but you must park your car outside the center and walk up a bit of a hill to enter. Like many medieval hilltowns, a modern town has been built below the old Certaldo and alto refers to Certaldo Alto’s position on the hill or above the modern town. The whole town is beautifully constructed of red bricks. Certaldo Alto was the home of Boccaccio, author of Il Decamerone, written in 1351, and you can visit his house. Read more…

     

     

• We will also receive a Maiolica demonstration from a local artist before dinner

8 pm | Dinner | Included

Friday, October 28, 2011
Day Trip to San Gimignano and Volterra

7:30 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

8:30 am | Leave for San Gimignano

• Visit Gagliardi Art Gallery: The Galleria Gagliardi in San Gimignano, has without doubt the largest selection of contemporary ceramic sculptors in Italy. You will also find a wide collection of interesting contemporary paintings and sculptures by national and international well known artists.

  Today they can say that the gallery has become an extremely important cultural reference, among the most complete for the permanent promotion and sale of contemporary art; every work is always subject to a scrupulous selection process, with every piece chosen directly in the studios of the artists with whom we work, constantly encouraging them to perform research, renewing their approach and improving their skills in order to present works of the very highest quality.

  The best ceramic sculptures, conceptual, abstract and figurative paintings, bronze and marble sculptures, as well as works in steel, iron and wood, are presented by artists of national and international acclaim, offering an impressive, exceptionally selective art collection. Read more…

  
  
  

• Colligiata Church: this church is amongst the most frescoed of all the churches in Tuscany and its elaborate interior decorations are often quite overwhelming.

  

• Raffaele De Grada Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art | The Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art is named for Raffaele De Grada. He loved San Gimignano and some of his works can be seen in the Gallery. As well as its extensive permanent collection the Gallery hosts exhibitions by avant-garde artists. Among the modern and contemporary art works owned by the Municipality of San Gimignano are canvases by Cannicci, De Grada, Guttuso, Vacchi, Fieschi and Nespolo, and sculptures by Bodini, Shmettau and Hesse.  Read more…

• Visit local potter, Franco Balducci

  To learn more about Franco visit, www.francobalducci.com, and to watch a throwing video go here.

12 pm | Lunch On Your Own

1 pm | Leave for Volterra

• Volterra is a major center for anyone interested in the Estruscans. The town itself is encircled by the remnants of Estrucscan walls, and the surrounding countryside has been a rich source of Estruscan tomb discoveries. But above all, the Guarnacci Museum houses one of the most interesting displays of Etruscan antiquities in existence.

   

• Museum | Guarnacci Museum: The Guarnacci museum is one of the earliest public museums in Europe. It was founded in 1761 when the noble abbot Mario Guarnacci, a collector of antiquities, donated his archaeological collection to the citizens of the city of Volterra.

   

7 pm | Dinner | Provided by La Meridiana

Saturday, October 29, 2011
Leave for Florence Airport

4:00 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

5 am | Leave for Florence Airport

• Flights should be booked to depart after 7 am to allow time for check in and airport security.

 October 18- 23, 2011 and  October 28-29, 2011 | Potter and Non-Potter Schedule is the SAME Schedule

Monday, October 24, 2011
La Meridiana | Non-Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast provided by La Meridiana

9 am | Free Time

10:30 am | Coffee Break

11 am | Group one will shop for food at the local market

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

2 pm | Group two will shop for food at the local market

3-6 pm | Monoprint Art Experience

7 pm | Dinner on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Day Trip to Siena | Non-Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

9 am | Leave for Siena

• Includes guided tour, museum and shopping time. Our professional guide will take the group around Siena to visit the major sights that include: Basilica of San Domenico. Walking tour of the medieval  streets. The Duomo, Piazza del Campo (where the famous horse race takes place). The  ticket includes the visit to the Duomo and its museum.

    

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

3-5 pm | Continue in Siena

5 pm | Return to La Meridiana

7:30 pm | Dinner and Reception

A musical event with tenor singer and guitar to be held at La Meridiana, with invitation to local potters to join attendees.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tour through Chianti with Guide | Non-Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

9 am | ILeave for Tour through Chianti with Guide

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

1:30 pm | Continue with tour

5 pm | Return to La Meridiana

6 pm | Dinner | Wine tasting at  Canto di Baccio (see above Potters Schedule for details)

Thursday, October 27, 2011
Cooking Lesson | Non-Potter Schedule

8 am | Breakfast on Own | Attendees will have access to kitchen

9 am – 2 pm | Cooking Lesson

12:30 pm | Lunch provided by La Meridiana

2 – 4:30 pm | Free Time

4:30 pm | Leave for Certaldo Alto (see above Potters Schedule for details)

Presenter | PIETRO MADDALENA
Bucchero
The black Bucchero ware is  typical of the Etruscans civilization. The technique is revived from the past and reinterpreted in a contemporary approach. We will use clay rich in iron, finishing surfaces with accurate browning and sgraffitio decoration, with a reduction firing for the creation of pottery that features a black metallic sheen.

The term Bucchero (Italian pronunciation: [?bukkero'] is most generally associated with a class of ceramics produced in central Italy by the region’s pre-Roman Etruscan population. This Italian word actually is derived from the Portuguese bucáro (meaning “odorous clay”) in reference to the distinctive earthy smell given off by a dampened bucchero vessel.

Example of bucchero, artist unknown

Regarded as the “national” pottery of ancient Etruria, bucchero ware is distinguished by its black fabric as well as glossy, black surface achieved through the unique “reduction” method in which it was fired. After the leather-hard green ware was arranged in the kiln and the fire started, the vent holes were closed, thus reducing the supply of oxygen required in a normal kiln firing. In the smoke-filled atmosphere of the kiln, the oxygen-starved flames drew oxygen molecules from the iron oxide of the pottery. This process caused the fabric of the clay to change color from its natural red to black. Thus, in contrast to the black-glazed Campanian ware of the Greek colonists in southern Italy, the lustrous, shiny, black surface of many bucchero pots was achieved by diligent burnishing (polishing,) or, occasionally, through the application of a thin slip (clay emulsion).

Additional Information
Pietro Elia Maddalena studied ceramics at the West Surrey College of Art & Design in England. After two more years of work at Dartington Workshop, he returned to Italy where in 1980 he established a studio and founded La Meridiana, the International School of Ceramics in Tuscany.

“I am totally and continuously interested in the process of making. I see the craft object as a projection of the human spirit and the culture in which it was nurtured. In elaborating concept, material and process, my ultimate goal is the expression of beauty through sophisticated and sensual forms.”

For more information about Pietro, visit: www.pietro.net

Additional Information
Selsor is a Professor Emerita at Montana State University-Billings where she taught for 25 years. Her career in Ceramics spans over four decades and during that time she has taught workshops on a wide variety of topics across the U.S., in Italy, Spain, and Canada. She has had residencies at: The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA; The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mt.; La Meridiana in Tuscany; The Straumur Artists Commune in Iceland; The Banff Center in Canada; Dzintari in Jurmula, Latvia; the Mary Anderson Center for Creative Arts in Mount St. Francis, In.; and twice in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She received two Senior Fulbright Fellowship Awards: Spain in 1985 and Uzbekistan in 1994. She has been on the Board of NCECA and the Potters Council. She has presented numerous times at NCECA and written or contributed to many books, journals and magazines.

Selsor received a BFA in Ceramics with Bill Daley at the Philadelphia University of the Arts and an MFA in Ceramics with Nick Vergette from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

Her work is in the following collections:
Museum of Contemporary Ceramics, Santiago de los Caballeros, DOMINICAN     REPUBLIC
The Clay Studio, Permanent Collection, Philadelphia, PA
Archie Bray Foundation Permanent Collection, Helena, MT
Walter Phillips Permanent Collection Banff Centre, Alberta, CANADA
Instituto de Cultura Juan Gilbert Alicante, SPAIN
International Center of Artists, Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN
Museum of Plastic Arts, Tumen, RUSSIA
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Riga Museum of Fine Arts, Riga, LATVIA
Pushkin Museum, Moscow, RUSSIA
Planned Parenthood of Billings, MT
The Jade Palace Restaurant, Helena, MT
Yellowstone Art Museum, Permanent Collection, Billings, MT
Deaconess Medical Center, Billings, MT
Security Bank, Laurel, MT
Springfield Art Museum, Permanent Collection, Springfield, IL
and numerous private collections

Ceramic Artist – Marcia Selsor was featured in Ceramic Arts Daily Website.
Click the link to read:How to Make Large Slab-Built Ceramic Forms Using Tarpaper Molds.

For more information about Marcia, visit: marciaselsor.com