Inherent in art is the power to heal, break down barriers and bring people together. I am committed to being part of this healing and peace-building process every day through not only the creation of art but also participation in relevant projects. A recent project included an epic adventure in Italy!
"From Landscapes to Canvasses: A Message of Peace"
Artists from Russia, the U.S. (including me!) and Italy came together this summer with a mission of nobelizing a neglected area of Italy by capturing its beauty in paint, spreading peace, and bringing people together through art's universal power. We collectively created 118 pieces over the course of three weeks...all painted "en plein air," or spontaneously in the open air. We then showed our work in two different pop-up shows, one in the watchtower of a castle and the second in a renovated palazzo, both in the village of Pietramelara, Italy.
Our host and the visionary behind the show, Fernanda Natale-Reynolds, is an Italian American whose family was forced to leave the village after the devastation of World War II. She remembers lying in a field as a little girl, looking up at the clouds, and imagining that she was going to travel the world and one day bring artists from all different cultural backgrounds together to paint together and spread peace through art. What an honor to help realize this vision!
Throughout the three weeks while we were there, we met with village officials, spoke at many gatherings, showed the progress of our work and answered questions of children and adults who wondered what we were up to as we painted their beloved country-side. I kept thinking of the little town in Wisconsin that I grew up in and how wonderful it would have been to see artists in our town capturing places of beauty that many had over-looked.
Above is the site of our first show. This is the first time the watchtower was used for an event like this!
View of the interior of the watchtower. We had to get creative, as we could not touch the walls to hang our pieces.
This is the site of our second show...a renovated palazzo in the center of the village...again, the first time being used in this way.
Pics above show the village of Pietramelara, the views from our second show and my beloved fellow artists and husband.
Above are pics from the shows. Imagine seeing your beloved home village through the eyes of artists from around the globe! Also, what power in the universality of these images...although we were speaking English, Russian and Italian, it did not matter what language one spoke in order to understand the art.
The artists who participated in this show are beautiful people...all motivated by the spirit in the desire to make the world a better place through our work. We are currently working on larger, more refined pieces developed from inspiration from our travels together and will be putting a show together soon...stay tuned.
With Peace and Gratitude,
Kelly
