Scholars look to meet artists living and working  in Northern Italy.
Throughout history communities of visual artists, writers, philosophers and poets have come together to discuss and evaluate the conditions they fined to be problematic in the arts of their time. Dr. Paul Edwards (Professor of Theater and Communication) and Dr. Don Seastrum (Professor of Studio Art) are conducting research in the interdisciplinary role of the arts in a culture of immediacy, in a time when illusion and reality are not so easily distinguished. We will consider the role of the arts in a data-infused society, when audiences are bombarded with more information than they can process. We will investigate how arts initiatives and movements built on the past and, in fact, appropriate the past. We will consider art for art’s sake versus the utility of the arts, and how the tension between one’s personal relationships to the arts interacts with the political implications of artistic expression. Our research will study different attempts in Western history to create a community of artists of international significance, communities that had as their primary intention to use art to change the way in which humanity would see the world. The most significant of these movements, of course, was the Florentine Camerata, which contributed to the flourishing of the Italian Renaissance. Therefore, we have selected northern Italy, home of the Florentine Camerata, as the base of our operations. Dr. Edwards and I intend to explore the role of the arts in a culture of immediacy, in a time when illusion and reality are not so easily distinguished. We will consider the role of the arts in a data-infused society, when audiences are bombarded with more information than they can process. We will investigate how arts initiatives and movements built on the past and, in fact, appropriate the past. We will consider art for art’s sake versus the utility of the arts, and how the tension between one’s personal relationship to the arts interacts with the political implications of artistic expression. We have selected northern Italy as our base of operations so that we might study different attempts in Western history to create a community of artists of international significance, communities that had as their primary intention to use art to change the way in which humanity would see the world. The most significant of these movements, of course, was the Florentine Camerata, which contributed to the flourishing of the Italian Renaissance. Dr. Edwards and I will be doing part of our research in Florence, Vicenza, Parma, Milan, Verona and Venice. We would like to speak with artists living and working in those locations to discuss the nature and demands of Italian artist today. If you are interested in talking with us about your work please contact Don Eugene Seastrum, PhD, Professor of Art, Western State Colorado University, Member Italian Art Society by email. We will be arriving in Italy on the 23 of April and be in Italy until the 19th of June.