Features

The Academy’s fall 2017 exhibition, Matera Imagined/Matera Immaginata: Photography and a Southern Italian Town, travels to Matera, located in the southern Italian region of Basilicata.

In November, 250 guests gathered to honor Tony Kushner and returning Rome Prize Fellows at the American Academy in Rome’s Fall Gala in New York.

John W. Hyland Jr., a longtime Academy friend and chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees, has passed away.

In 1948, teams of archeologists from the Academy traveled up the Tuscan coast to the abandoned town of Cosa. They were the first Americans granted a permit to excavate in Italy. Under the directorship of then Mellon Professor Frank Brown, the teams began one of the first attempts in Italy to chart the history of a Roman town.

In the spirit of Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad (1869), which brought American mythologies into relief through direct encounters with Europe, AAR invited celebrated artist Charles Ray, to explore the theme of “American Classics.” The new sculpture resulting from this invitation debuts in a two-work exhibition at the Academy in May, during the artist’s tenure as the 2017 Deenie Yudell Artist in Residence.

Each year at the American Academy in Rome, common themes emerge among Fellows’ projects with wonderful serendipity. This year found several scholars and artists investigating the Mediterranean as a geographical and conceptual framework in different historical periods and from different perspectives.

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of Sophie Chandler Consagra, an integral and unique figure in the history of the American Academy in Rome. Her long relationship with the Academy began with her being hired as AAR director in 1980, then with her selection in 1984 as president.

AAR announced today that John Ochsendorf, a preservation engineer, historian, and educator, has been selected as the twenty-third director of the American Academy in Rome.

It is with sorrow that we say goodbye to our colleague Lidia Villani, who passed away a few days ago. Lidia began at the American Academy in Rome in 1999 as administrative assistant and cashier. Her contagious cheerfulness enlightened both her work and her personal relationships with the community.

It is with great sadness that we relay the passing of Pina Pasquantonio, our assistant director of operations in Rome.

The American Academy in Rome is pleased to announce that Carne is finally available for sale, just in time for holiday shopping! Written by Chris Behr, head chef at AAR’s Rome Sustainable Food Program, Carne is the fifth book in our cookbook series, following Biscotti, Zuppe, Pasta, and Verdure.

The American Academy in Rome’s 2016 Gala held at the Morgan Library and Museum honored the remarkable Laurie Anderson and celebrated Rome Prize Fellows.

The American Academy in Rome is pleased to present winners of the 2016 Rome Prize Fellowship. These thirty-one artists and scholars will receive a stipend, workspace, and room and board for a period of six months to two years at the Academy’s eleven-acre campus in Rome. Fellowship winners were presented at the Arthur and Janet C. Ross Rome Prize Ceremony, which was held in Kaplan Hall Auditorium at the New School in New York. 

Flaming music boxes. Ping pong balls. Kurt Vonnegut. Shakespeare. While not typical staples of classical music, all have been featured in the work of AAR composers and performed by the renowned Scharoun Ensemble.

Last week, a capacity audience filled the ODC Dance Theater in San Francisco for the latest installment of Conversations | Conversazioni: From the American Academy in Rome. The event, a panel discussion on the design of museums and cultural spaces, featured speakers offering unique perspectives on approaching their work.

It’s not easy to picture Cy Twombly with a camera in his hand. Famous for his abstract canvases and found-object sculptures, Twombly’s best-known work seems to eschew the world in favor of its symbolic and conceptual fundamentals.

The composer Annie Gosfield, a current AAR Resident, sat serenely at her computer while the percussionist Chris Cutler roamed barefoot around an ensemble of suspended garden tools.

Over the last three years, a collaboration between the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, or the Centro, and AAR has given the Centro students an opportunity to use Academy resources to curate their own exhibition. This year, they worked with Academy curator Valentina Follo to tell the story of a pioneering woman—Esther Boise Van Deman.

A festive group of Fellows, Affiliated Fellows, Residents, Trustees, and Academy friends reunited recently for an annual tradition—the 2015 AAR Cabaret.

A large crowd braved driving rain turn to see Edward Hirsch (1989 Fellow) and Robert Polito read and discuss poetry at this fall’s first US installment of the series, Conversations/Conversazioni: From the American Academy in Rome.