SUMMER BOOK ARTS IN ITALY

September 8, 2021 

Each year for the past 10 years, Jeff has taken a group of Western Michigan University students to Italy and Europe. After a year off in 2020 this summer’s trip was, rather miraculously, on once again! In June we were surprised and excited to learn that the Book Arts in Italy study abroad program had been approved by the WMU Study Abroad office for travel in early August. Four students were accepted to participate: Natalie, Erica, Alexis, and Elizabeth.

 We began the trip in Florence. After weeks of fretting about the documents needed for travel—vaccination card, negative Covid test, Passenger Locator Form—it was surprisingly easy, and we were able to enter Italy with no required quarantine. It was so great to be there! Though there were still plenty of tourists, it was far less crowded than in past years. We spent the first weekend exploring the city and visiting museums. The Uffizi, which for years has been under reconstruction, finally has all the new galleries on both floors open. It looks spectacular! There is a lot more work out on view, and with smaller crowds it is easier to get up close to Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. At the Accademia Gallery, which is also under renovation, the students almost felt like they had Michelangelo’s David to themselves!

 During the week the students worked at the Florence School of Fine Arts with Director Melania Lanzini and Charles LoVerme to create an accordion book. They printed the pages from handset movable type and cutout relief images on a 19th century Albion hand press. Over the past decade the Florence School has grown to include an outstanding collection of presses, and many cabinets of wood and metal type. They offer a comprehensive curriculum of studio art, printmaking, photography, and artist’s book classes to Italian and foreign students. At the end of the week, we went to have lunch at their new home and studio—an historic farmhouse with sections built in the 17th century—located in the hills above the small village of Rufina, in the Tuscany region outside of Florence.  It’s an amazing place to live and work!

 We spent the final days of the trip exploring the canals and alleyways of Venice. We visited churches and museums and rode in a traghetto—a gondola that for a few euros will ferry you across the Grand Canal. The weather was very hot and humid, so it was a perfect time for the students to spend a day swimming in the Adriatic Sea at the Lido beach.

We were very grateful for the opportunity to visit Italy this year and we’re already making plans for next year. Look for information about the 10-day 2022 Book Arts in Venice program, offered through the KBAC for adults, coming soon.  It will be an experience not to be missed!

Jeff

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