UGA Cortona Reunion Exhibition

Join us Saturday, January 21st at 3p for the closing ceremony and reception! Look forward to seeing you there!

More on the event from UGA’s Cortona Study Abroad Program:

From Monday January 9th, the very best artworks of UGA Cortona's 2022 study abroad programs will be on display in the Lupin Foundation Gallery and the Suite Gallery on the 3rd floor of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia in Athens! The show runs through Saturday January 21, on which day we'll close it down with an assembly at 3:00 pm and a big reunion reception afterwards. We hope to see all of our 2022 students there, along with any other alumni and friends of UGA Cortona!

Mostra Exhibit In Athens!

For over a year, the UGA Cortona International Center programs were put on hold due to the pandemic. After an extended hiatus, Cortona resumed programming hosting approximately 40 students and faculty for the 2021 Fall Semester program. This year’s Cortona exhibition, known as “La Mostra” (The Show), presents the experience and work of Fall 2021 students and faculty creating art in the studios of the Kehoe Center and engaging with the city of Cortona once again. La Mostra will run from Monday, January 10th, through Friday, January 21st, 2022, with no closing ceremony.

Update From Cortona- August 2020

A note from Kristine Schramer, UGA’s Associate Director of Cortona:

Italy’s decisive response to the COVID-19 health crisis has brought the number of cases down dramatically, and the country’s gradual and careful reopening has so far been successful in preventing a second wave of infections (tocca ferro!). In Cortona, some normalcy has returned - one can go to a bar, eat in a restaurant, listen to music in the piazza, or visit a museum; the Cortona On The Move festival is open on weekends and outdoor movies in the Parterre are about to resume. Masks are ubiquitous and hand-sanitizer provided in abundance at the threshold of every business, and most people respect and follow these precautions without complaint. There are many Italian tourists visiting the town, and Europeans who own summer homes here are returning. But without Americans, there are noticeably fewer numbers, and local businesses are struggling to make ends meet with the costs of the new rules and with the reduced number of visitors.

In response, the Comune di Cortona is mounting a strong social media campaign to promote the territory, including some beautiful new video spots which we’ll share with you on the C.I.A.O. and UGA Cortona Studies Abroad accounts. UGA Cortona will not run study abroad programs for the rest of 2020, but its staff in both Athens and Cortona are working hard to prepare for the return of students in 2021. New programs and partnerships are being developed, and student recruitment is ongoing. UGA is maintaining its presence in the city, exemplified currently by the opening of “Cos’è qui / What’s Here”, the end-of-residence exhibition of UGA Cortona's outgoing Visiting Artist, Bryan Parnham. On display at the MAEC museum through July 31, the exhibition displays works in metal Parnham created during his 18- month residency in Cortona.

In addition, the Cortona Italy Alumni Organization and alumna Carolyn Melbye are making sure the Cortonese feel UGA’s love from afar through the ongoing “Cartoline per Cortona” postcard project, which has been facilitating the exchange of virtual messages of support between UGA Cortona alumni and residents of Cortona since the pandemic began. Find out how you can participate at https://ciaouga.org/cartoline-per-cortona! For more information visit the C.I.A.O. website: https://ciaouga.org/news/2020/4/28/cartoline-per-cortona C.I.A.O. (Cortona Italy Alumni Organization)

Zoom Postcard Making Event!

Sunday, August 23, 3:00 pm EDT / 9:00 pm CEST (Cortona)

Join us on Zoom to hang out with old and new alumni, and Cortona amici. Create a postcard for our Cartoline per Cortona project! Pull out your cardstock, watercolor paper, markers, pens, watercolors, acrylics, or photographs, and write a message of support for Cortona. We’ll share our memories and catch up with current Cortona life too. RSVP to c.i.a.o.uga@gmail.com, include name, year/semester and we’ll send the Zoom Link and details by return email.

Cartoline per Cortona

Anyone who has participated in the UGA Cortona study-abroad program can tell you how the ancient walled city of Cortona gets under your skin and into your soul, and always lives in your heart.  It’s not surprising that the frightening news reports of the Coronavirus in Italy have prompted many of our alumni to contact us, desperate to know how their beloved Tuscan city is faring. 

UGA Cortona’s 2020 Spring semester in Italy was suspended after only one month, and the nineteen students on the program were quickly and safely repatriated to the U.S. in the early morning hours of March 1, with less than 24-hours’ notice.  They are currently finishing their semester online and their (virtual) Mostra will be available to view on April 26th, on the UGA Cortona Studies Abroad website and Facebook page. 

Our 2020 Maymester, Junemester, and Summer semesters have been cancelled.  Our permanent staff is still in Cortona, taking care of our campus and preparing for the anticipated arrival of our Fall students.  

In the entire Comune di Cortona there have been 14 confirmed cases of the virus so far, and two deaths.  The region of Tuscany has had the fifth highest number of cases in Italy, so the governor is being extremely cautious.  The Cortonesi are not allowed to leave their homes except to obtain food and other necessaries, and if they do so they must wear a mask and gloves, and maintain a 2,8 meter distance from other individuals.        

Economically, Cortona has been hit hard by the virus.  All but the most essential businesses have been shut down since March 11, and reopening will only gradually begin on May 4.  There will almost certainly be no tourism this summer, so all the museums, hotels, restaurants, boutique shops, artisans, wedding planners, tour guides, vineyards, and wine shops will have few customers even once they’re allowed to reopen their doors. Without a doubt, Cortona will lose more than a few businesses this year.  It’s hard to express how empty the city is right now, even more so than it normally is during the deepest winter months…   

At this point you may be asking yourself, what can I do to help?  How can I show the people of Cortona that I remember them, and care? 

UGA Cortona alumna Carolyn Melbye (Spring/Summer 2004), now an expressive arts therapist in Massachusetts, has started a postcard art project with the goal of sending creative messages back and forth between UGA Cortona students and alumni, and the people of Cortona. 

Anyone who loves Cortona is invited to create their own artistic postcard, up to 4 1/2" x 6", or write a message on a pre-printed card, and mail it to Carolyn Melbye, P.O. Box 540236, Waltham, MA, 02454. Carolyn will scan the front and back of every card and the images will be posted on the C.I.A.O. website.

We will encourage the Cortonesi to respond by making their own cards, which will be posted on the website as well. 

We hope to bring all the postcards, both American and Italian, together for a real-life exhibition in Cortona in the fall of 2020. After the exhibition closes in Cortona, we plan to send all the postcards to Athens, GA, and display them at our 2020 Reunion Exhibition at the Lamar Dodd School of Art in January 2021.

Please join us in sharing our diverse talents for continued connection and creativity with Cortona!   

2019 Mostra Celebration and Exhibit

In January a very special event will mark the yearly “Athens Mostra” and student reunion. This conclusion of the 2019 Cortona 50th Anniversary Cinquantesimo programs will include very special guests. The new Mayor and Vice Mayor of Cortona will be joining us! Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz will welcome the Cortona dignitaries as a part of the ceremony and the Dodd Board of Visitors will also be in attendance. View the exhibition of student work from 2019 prior to the ceremony and following enjoy light refreshments

Baci From Cortona

The Baci From Cortona show is officially on display at Lamar Dodd in Athens, Georgia. Join us at Dodd’s Margie E. West Gallery this Thursday, November 7th at 5:30p for the closing reception sponsored by the Willson Center. It’s sure to be an amazing event!

“Baci From Cortona” Closing Reception

Thursday, November 7th

5:30p | Margie E. West Gallery at Lamar Dodd School of Art

In 1970, the University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program in Cortona (UGA Cortona) was initiated. The vision and devoted efforts of founder and director, John D. Kehoe rooted UGA’s presence in Cortona. Together with city officials of Cortona, the relationship between UGA and Cortona has since transcended the moniker of “Study Abroad”, achieving a cultural, social, and human understanding between two cities and their people.

     The Baci from Cortona project comes to fruition, only thanks to 50 years of continuous friendship, inclusion, and cultural exchange. Collaborative efforts from ‘UGA Cortona’, “Cortona on the Move” and its partners, attempt to unfold the stories of so many lives touched by the relationship between the city of Cortona and the University of Georgia. The exhibit conveys passion and sincerity through images created by the Cortona and UGA communities. An open call solicited the submission of photographs expressing memories, relationships, and experiences resulting from the wonderfully human interaction between two cultures. What has emerged is not simply a walk down memory lane but something far more significant; the compilation of images reveals the enriching impact of a 50-year old relationship, cultivating life-long friendships and learning opportunities. Observing this 50th anniversary, Baci from Cortona intrinsically speaks to the past and future connections between UGA and Cortona. Stories represented by the exhibition have transpired over 50 years with anticipation for continued growth and evolution between the city of Cortona and the University of Georgia, for many generations to come.

Unable to make the reception on Thursday? The exhibit will be on view until November 16th so you still have a few more days to enjoy the show!

CALL FOR PHOTOS! Deadline Extended to 1/31!

To celebrate the 50th year, the Cortona On The Move photography festival is working on a project on the relations between UGA students and Cortonese people, in collaboration with UGA Cortona. We are collecting personal photographs and stories: relationships, friendships, trips to the US and vice versa, daily life in Cortona, etc. that will all be made into an exhibition in occasion of the big reunion in Cortona and in Athens in June 2019. A book will also be produced.

To make this a success though, we need your photos! If you have an image you’d like to share, please go to http://www.cortonaonthemove.com/en/open-calls/baci-from-cortona/ and submit today. We’re so excited to see the memories you have to share. The deadline in December 31, 2018 so don’t wait to submit!

Fall In Cortona

A special thanks to photography professor Jeff Curto for sharing this beautiful photo of Cortona with us!

Scott Belville featured in the AJC!

One of our very own, Professor Scott Belville, was featured in the AJC last month. His show, “Scott Belville: Painting in Reverse” runs through Oct. 20. (11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; noon-5 p.m. Saturdays. Free. Sandler Hudson Gallery, 1000 Marietta St. NW, Suite 116, Atlanta. 404-817-3300, sandlerhudson.com.)

Read the full story here

Congratulations one an amazing show and review, Scott!