EVENTS: Serendipity shapes many Art Workshop International experiences due to the diversity of our creative writing and visual arts faculty and participants. We share informal presentations of art, art history, and literature via our hotel’s DVD and wide-screen TV. Special guests talk with us about Assisi’s history, culture, and the Italian language. The staff compiles a calendar of local happenings. The workshop participants celebrate with a reception on the last full day of each session (August 3 and August 17) and an open studio of all artists’ works and a reading by the writers and instructors. Every year we invite guests – artists and writers who live in Italy and special visitors. Afterwards, the hotel staff serves a farewell dinner. This evening is poignant as each person reflects on how extraordinary the time here has been. Many people already are planning how they can return next year.

SUPPLEMENTAL TRIPS: There are two days off each session (July 28 -29 and August 11-12). We encourage participants to explore local sites either on a day or overnight trip. A group can hire our driver for the day, for example, and go on the “trail of Piero della Francesca” to towns where he lived and painted. Other nearby cities rich in art and history include Perugia (the capital of Umbria), Spoleto, Spello, Folignio, and, of course, Florence. All can be reached by local transportation. The hotel staff can help make arrangements in advance.