Projects and Visions
The Siena Art Institute promotes and participates in artistic research and educational projects at the local, national, and international levels. Together with our team of artists, teachers, curators, youth workers, and researchers, we explore themes such as environmental sustainability and urban regeneration, the relationship between artistic and cultural heritage and contemporary practices, craftsmanship, accessible design, and participatory planning. Our School of Deaf Studies, in continuity with the activities of our sister school, the Siena School for Liberal Arts, carries out projects focused on the study of sign languages at an international level.
or email us at projects@sienaart.org
THE PEACE ROOM: Residenza Internazionale per Artisti
THE PEACE ROOM is an art residency and research project that aims to explore the role of art as a tool for dialogue and cultural diplomacy. The project involves young international artists under the age of 35 in a process of production, training and confrontation with each other and with different levels of context, from local to European and international. The project has been initiated in response to the prevailing geopolitical dynamics and uncertainties in international relations, with the objective of stimulating reflection on the possibilities of establishing shared spaces for the future of communities.
The interdisciplinary residency programme will facilitate the development of site-specific art practices by young artists in dialogue with artists, architects, artisans, educational institutions and museums, leading to the creation of modular installations that will constitute the PEACE ROOM.
THE DEN PROJECT: Building Safe Spaces in Nature
Through textile crafts, design, ceramics and the observation of nature, the children taking part in “The DEN Project – Building Safe Spaces in Nature” will learn to use creativity and imagination to transform any space into the perfect place to play and experience outdoor adventures.
The project is organized by Siena Art Institute in partnership with Le Ali.
This initiative is part of Progetto EduCarSI – Education Care Siena, funded under the public notice “Educare in Comune”, promoted by the Department for Family Policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
TU SEI QUI (YOU ARE HERE) - Exploring, Connecting, Transforming Common Space
For YOU ARE HERE, the Siena Art Institute will carry out co-design interventions in Siena’s green and urban spaces, actively involving children and adolescents alongside volunteers, architects, artists, and designers.
The main activities will include creative workshops for children aged 7 to 12 and educational programs (PCTO) for adolescents at risk of dropping out of school, aimed at strengthening their sense of belonging, self-esteem, and awareness of urban spaces.
The project is made possible with the support of the Fondazione MPS and in partnership with the Gruppo Trekking Senese (GTS), Mason Perkins Deafness Fund Onlus, the Order of Architects of Siena, and the Siena University Hospital.
Florére. Sowing Sustainable Practices
The goal of Florére is to make the territory of Siena and its province more attractive, environmentally conscious, and inclusive. How? By engaging the community in data collection and the development of proposals and solutions for the sustainable management of artistic and musical events, as well as the region’s cultural heritage. The project is a joint effort with the Siena Art Institute, Associazione Pro+ APS, Fondazione Musei Senesi, Unione Astrofili Senesi, TVSpenta APS, Gruppo Trekking Senese, and Mason Perkins Deafness Fund Onlus, with the support of Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena as part of the RESET2023 program.
The Hidden Garden Residency Project
We Will Survive
Participation4Change
What is the relationship between the world of art and culture and environmental activism? This project promotes a series of actions that, by engaging communities in the provinces of Florence and Siena—particularly focusing on young people—encourage behaviors and forms of active participation aimed at combating climate change and mitigating human impact. Participation4Change: People at the Heart of Change is a project carried out by Mani Tese Ets, Deafal Ong, and the Siena Art Institute, supported by funds from the Otto per Mille of the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai.
GUESS - How to do
GUESS (Gruppo Urbano Eventi Sostenibili Siena) – How to do is a project coordinated by the Municipality of Siena in partnership with Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, TVSpenta, Pro+, and the Siena Art Institute. It offers free capacity-building programs to support the ecological transition of cultural and creative organizations and businesses in Siena and its province.
All training programs are funded by the Ministry of Culture as part of the NGEU – Next Generation EU Project through funds allocated to the PNRR – National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mission 1, Investment 3.3.
Artelogando – Dialogues and Art Beyond Stigma
“Artelogando” is a series of community-based philosophical and artistic programs designed to foster local cultural participation among university students while simultaneously developing a dialogue with individuals diagnosed with psychiatric conditions who often face social marginalization. The initiative includes philosophical conversation sessions, ceramics and weaving workshops, and creative writing meetings—activities specifically designed to address social isolation and expand networks of exchange. The project was carried out with the support of the MPS Foundation as part of the Community Hub Culture Ibride program.
Non ho paura del buio (I’m Not Afraid of the Dark)
Between awareness-raising and experimentation, the project “I’m Not Afraid of the Dark” led to the creation of focus groups, artistic workshops, lighting design workshops, concerts, and working groups, all aimed at answering a single question: What can organizations operating in the cultural and creative sectors do to address the issue of light pollution? The project was conceived and carried out by Associazione TVSpenta, Associazione Propositivo, Siena Art Institute Onlus, Associazione Radicondoli Arte, Unione Astrofili Senesi, and the Center for the Study of Rural History and Agricultural Labor, with the support of Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena as part of the RESET2022 program.
SymPhysi - Integrative Training in Nature Youth Work
Through a 15-day immersion in a collaborative and integrative permaculture/Forest School ecosystem in Crete, Greece, the SymPhysi project implemented an innovative training course aimed at enhancing the professional development and empowerment of youth workers. The program provided regenerative, self-sustaining green skills and competencies. SymPhysi was coordinated by School Without Frontiers (France) in partnership with Association Green School Village (Bulgaria), Bethlehem University (Palestine), Evolving Cycles (Greece), and Siena Art Institute (Italy).
Local heroes of tomorrow in Siena
Thanks to this European Solidarity Corps project in partnership with Fundacja Rozwoju Społeczeństwa Przedsiębiorczego (Silesia, Poland), the Siena Art Institute was able to host 8 Polish volunteers for variable lengths of time going from one month to one year.
Recreation
The Recreation project aims to transform unconventional spaces into educational environments, engaging young people up to the age of 17 in communities across Abbadia San Salvatore, Vescovado di Murlo, and Montalcino. Through a participatory approach, the project explores the educational potential of out-of-school settings, fostering shared growth and social innovation. Digital storytelling is at the heart of the project, serving as a tool for research and social transformation. The narratives that emerge strengthen the sense of belonging, reinforcing the cohesion of the participating communities. The project is funded by Fondazione Con I Bambini and co-financed by Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
The Turning Point
As part of the Let’s Art program, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena committed to supporting the creation of a design garden that is accessible and sustainable, offering matching donations for funds that the Siena Art Institute was able to raise through a fundraising campaign. Thanks to the contributions of both small and large donors, businesses, and individuals from Italy and abroad, the project led to the creation of the Hidden Garden of Siena, a sustainable woodland that is accessible to blind people, visually impaired individuals, and deaf people just outside Porta Romana in Siena.
Subject to Interpretations – Hermeneutics in Art and Jurisprudence
What role does interpretation play in our lives? Interpreting the visual language of a work of art and the legal language of the law: how is a vision of reality created from the different readings of the jurist, the prisoner, the person with mental disabilities, the artist, the student, or the volunteer? The project, realized with the support of the Regione Toscana and GiovaniSì for Toscanaincontemporanea2023, was carried out by the Siena Art Institute, curated by Irene Lupi and Geraldina Albegiani, in partnership with the University of Siena (Department of Law), Pratt Institute of New York (Department of Fine Arts), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Ioannina, the Lithuanian Community of Tuscany, the Siena Detention Center, and the Riabilita Association.
A New Future of Pursaklar Youth
Beginning in summer 2022, 11 Turkish volunteers spent a few weeks to a year in Siena assisting with many aspects of our program activities: they helped with cleaning and redeveloping the neighborhood’s green areas, organised book clubs, created content for the Siena Art Institute’s social media and involved Siena’s university student population in a series of different ways. The project was created within the European Solidarity Corps – Individual Volunteering programme in partnership with Pursaklar Belediyesi (Pursaklar Municipality, Turkie).
SPart - Social Practice Art in Siena
SPart is an internal training and experimentation project focused on the theme of Social Practice, involving the staff, artists, and teachers of the Siena Art Institute. The training for the project was organized by the artist Amy Khoshbin under the supervision of the Pratt Institute in New York, while the pilot projects were carried out in partnership with Riabilita OdV, Società di Pie Disposizioni Onlus, and the Siena Correctional Facility. The project was funded by the MPS Foundation as part of the RESET 2021 program.
FRAGILE in Art
FRAGILE in Art – FRAGments of Identity: Languages and Expressions in Art is a project about conflict: the conflict between the internal and the external, between generations, social and political, historical, cultural and linguistic conflicts as well as conflicts about gender. How can a group of Italian and international artists, both emerging and established, explore this theme together? And how can art be a tool and channel for resolution and recomposition? FRAGILE in Art involves a number of communities that live or have lived through conflict (prisoners, elderly people, individuals from countries that are experiencing or have experienced war) and guides them through a path of empowerment and recomposing personal or collective trauma through artistic creation. The project is realized with the support of the Tuscany Region and GiovaniSì for Toscanaincontemporanea2022.
3C
By involving professionals and local organizations, for 3C the Siena Art Institute organized a series of workshops in collaboration with and for representatives of some of Siena’s vulnerable communities, university students, and enthusiasts. The results included objects, garments, stories, and videos, all of which became part of a communication campaign for the work of the Community Hub – Culture Ibride.
The project was carried out in partnership with Società di Pie Disposizioni, Kirikuci – Sartoria Migrante, Associazione Riabilita, the Siena Correctional Facility, and with the support of Fondazione MPS as part of the Community Hub – Culture Ibride initiative.
CREATIVITY - Creative Resilience: Enhancing Active Tools, Innovation and Vision in the Young
The CREATIVITY project was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union to bridge the gap between further education and employment in the Creative and Cultural sectors, where low wages, insecure contracts, and skill deficit have been compounded by the devastating effects of Covid-19. The project was led by De Montfort University (UK) in partnership with the Loughborough University, Atit Bvba (Belgium), Spes GMBH (Austria), Istituto Luigi Sturzo (Italy), Research Paths Etaireia Ereynas (Greece), VSL “Lyderystes ir verslo akademija” (Lithuania), and the Siena Art Institute (Italy).
Art Cloud Greece
With support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Siena Art Institute has launched Art Cloud Greece, a new Athens-based non profit organisation that sees the direct involvement of its former Greek students as cultural entrepreneurs. During the launching period the involved artists were able to activate participatory processes through an ongoing series of cultural events and projects during the autumn of 2021.
LANG-SKILLS
The project aims to improve the foreign language (FL) learning experience for Deaf, deaf, and hard of hearing (DHH) learners. It focuses on learning styles and learning strategies that learners apply or can apply to make the learning process more effective, thereby seeking to promote autonomous approach to learning. LANG-SKILLS is a project by Teiresiás – Středisko pro pomoc studentům se specifickými nároky / Support Centre for Students with Special Needs in partnership with Siena School for Liberal Arts, Masaryk University (MU), The John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin (KUL), and associated partner European Union of the Deaf Youth (EUDY).
SignTeach Online
SignTeach Online was a European project with partners from 7 EU countries and the ENSLT, a follow-up of the SignTeach project. It is a project by and for sign language teachers. Because of Covid-19, in 2020 many sign language teachers had to switch to online teaching. How did they do this? What were the challenges? What worked, what didn’t work? These were the questions that the project worked on answering.
Eterno Presente
A project by the Pinacoteca Nazionale of Siena in collaboration with the Siena Art Institute and other local partners, Eterno Presente (Eternal Present) invites visitors to experience the Picture Gallery and other museum spaces in the area by taking part in engaging artistic activities. Guided tours of historical collections with contemporary artists, poetry performances, painting and photography workshops are just some of the activities organized by the Siena Art Institute as part of the project.
RiGenerazione - Young Creative Trades
The RiGenerazione project, promoted by the Municipality of Siena in collaboration with the Municipality of Perugia, aimed to boost youth entrepreneurship in Siena through a training and support program for a group of young people aged between 18 and 35 from Siena and the Province. The activities were implemented in collaboration with a broad partnership, including Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena in ATS with the Centro Sperimentale del Mobile and Siena Art Institute, as part of the Public Notice ‘Sinergie,’ promoted by ANCI and funded by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Department of Youth and Universal Civil Service through the ‘Youth Policies Fund.
Green Summer School
A week immersed in the nature of the Chianti region of Siena, featuring horseback riding lessons, art, and English taught by qualified instructors and native-speaking teachers: this is the concept of the Green Summer School, the summer camp for children and teenagers created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and offered by the Berardenga Equestrian Center in collaboration with the Siena Art Institute.
“Per fare un albero…”
The project “To Make a Tree…” offers an innovative and integrated model of educational and training interventions aimed at students, parents, teachers, and adolescents. Through a diversified approach tailored to each territory, the project focuses on youth empowerment and the use of creative tools to foster learning, personal growth, and social cohesion. Territorial Actions: Virtual Treasure Hunt in San Quirico d’Orcia: A photographic treasure hunt that allows young people to explore their territory and share personal stories related to the places they live. The activity stimulates creativity, a sense of belonging, and visual storytelling skills. Video Workshops in Abbadia San Salvatore: Specifically designed for adolescents at risk of dropping out of school, these workshops provide practical and creative tools for self-expression through audiovisual language, encouraging reflection and dialogue. “To Make a Tree…” is a project selected by the social enterprise Con i Bambini as part of the Fund to Combat Child Educational Poverty and co-financed by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation.
Deaf Museums
Deaf Museums is a European project aimed at preserving and enhancing the cultural and historical heritage of deaf communities in each participating country, to raise awareness and understanding of the culture, life, and world of deaf people. The main output of the project is a basic museum skills course, a resource available to those who wish to engage with the historical and cultural heritage of the deaf community. Deaf Museums was carried out by Siena School for Liberal Arts (Italy), UCLan (UK), Pragma (Netherlands), European Union of the Deaf – EUD (Belgium), Fondazione Musei Senesi (Italy), Equalizent (Austria), and Deaf Studio (Slovakia).
Stories from the margins
Italian and international artists worked together with communities which are socially and geographically considered on the margins of the Sienese identity: elderly people in rest homes, prisoners, migrants and immigrants, people with disabilities, communities in the periphery. The stories of these meetings, created by social and cultural professionals, artists, and members of marginalized communities, were part of a storytelling project that presented Siena and its province through multiple points of view, rejecting any traditional hierarchy between the center and the community’s edges.
The project was created by the Siena Art Institute in collaboration with Siena Art Photo Travel, RadioArte and TVSpenta, and with the contribution of the Tuscany Region and GiovaniSì for the Toscanaincontemporanea2019 programme.
CErTiFY - Crisis and Employment: Tools and methodologies for Your Future
The CErTiFY project, funded by the European Erasmus+ Program, sought to help individuals wanting to work in the cultural and creative sectors, that are characterised by less-structured recruitment processes and key competences often acquired over longer periods of time and outside the formal education system. As such, finding a way to recognise these skills becomes a compelling necessity for candidates. CErTiFY developed two digital tools: a smartphone app to create digital “curricular” stories and an e-learning platform to support and guide job-seekers in applying for jobs. The Siena Art Institute took part as a partner in this project led by the Loughborough University, together with Atit Bvba (Belgium), De Montfort University (UK), Spes GMBH (Austria), Istituto Luigi Sturzo (Italy), Research Paths Etaireia Ereynas (Greece) and VSL “Lyderystes ir verslo akademija” (Lithuania).
AARGH!! - Art Against Radicalism and Genocide and for Human-rights!!
AARGH!! was an innovative multimedia, creative arts based Youth Exchange project between four different countries, including the UK (Rejuvenate Uk), Armenia (Today Art Initiative), Georgia (Student Youth Council) and Italy (Siena Art Institute). Participants selected by each partner took part in small scale multimedia creative arts-based activities to facilitate a creative approach towards radicalism, genocide and hatred in our societies and to foster creativity by helping young artists to build confidence and self esteem, encourage inter-cultural dialogue and promote social inclusion and solidarity. The project was funded by the European Commission in the context of the Erasmus+ Programme.
The Garden of Fabric
The Siena Art Institute and Riabilita have created a school-to-work program dedicated to students of I.I.S. Piccolomini in Siena. The goal? To design a sustainable garden that would house some of the plants historically used in traditional textile production, from fiber production to dyeing. The project was made possible thanks to the contribution of FMPS within the context of the Volver call.
SportSign
SportSign aimed to develop a Bilingual Sports Glossary that would work as a free self-learning pedagogical tool, using an innovative approach to increase the effectiveness of the pedagogical strategy directed towards Deaf students in Physical Education and Sports. The main target groups in this project were Physical Education Teachers, Interpreters and Deaf Students.
Ortaperto - "Open Garden"
The Ortaperto project created a distributed garden in the territory of the Contrada della Tartuca with the help of local residents. For 12 months, Ortaperto informed citizens and visitors about the importance of raising awareness on environmental issues. At the same time, it offered opportunities to participate in the project or receive training to immediately apply what they learned in their own garden or balcony.
Ortaperto was carried out in partnership between the Siena Art Institute and the Contrada della Tartuca, with support from the Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
Social Entrepreneurship and Active Citizenship – A Communication Project for Social Cooperatives
For this project, funded under the “Volver” call by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation, the Siena Art Institute engaged and trained four students from the A. Volta High School in Colle Val D’Elsa through a school-to-work transition program, in collaboration with 25 users and staff members of the social cooperative Riuscita Sociale.
REC/reate
REC/reate was a technologically avant-garde project designed by the Siena Art Institute that combined digital fabrication (in its most eco-friendly form) and traditional practices, putting technology and design at the service of creativity.
The objective of the project is to stimulate the acquisition of technical skills through active participation of people with disabilities in artistic activities in collaboration with artisans, designers, technology experts and makers. One of the creative, ethical and sustainable project outputs was a textile hand-weaving loom tailored to people with disabilities who became protagonists of artistic creation and craftsmanship.
The project was funded by the Region of Tuscany for Toscanaincontemporanea2018 and it was developed by the Siena Art Institute in partnership with Associazione Visionaria, Associazione Riabilita, Associazione TVSpenta, Fondazione Musei Senesi, Assocanapa, National Academy of the Arts Lahore, School of Fine Arts, Athens, University of Thessaloniki, Craft Council of Ireland.
Space to MAKE
Space to MAKE brought art and craftsmanship into everyday spaces and opened creative workshops to other artistic languages, reconnecting tradition with contemporary innovation through the creative and innovative language of makers. The project involved nearly 20 artisan businesses that opened their workshops to young creatives, hosted musical and poetic performances, shared their entrepreneurial stories through digital storytelling, and explored new tools for communication and business management. The project, developed as a continuation of the previous Cantiere Patrimonio, was carried out with the support of the Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena as part of the Sienaindivenire initiative.
Deaf Enterprise
The Siena School for Liberal Arts was a partner in the European project Deaf Enterprise, which aimed to produce educational and informational content for signing Deaf individuals. This included videos, interviews, interactive resources, guidelines, and much more. Participants had the opportunity to enhance their skills and gain inspiration from Deaf entrepreneurs from other European countries involved in the project: England (University of Central Lancashire), the Netherlands (Pragma, Roots&Routes), Italy (Siena School for Liberal Arts), and Denmark (Castberggård Højskolen & Frontrunners).
Cantiere Patrimonio – Forms and Materials for New Generations, from Idea to Production
The Heritage Workshop project invited international designers and artists, artisans, citizens, and students of all ages from Siena to engage in dialogue and exchange. Participants interacted with and found inspiration in the collections of the Natural History Museum of the Accademia dei Fisiocritici to create works of art, design, performances, handcrafted products, and alternative souvenirs.
The goal was to enhance the Museum’s role as an educational hub and a key cultural landmark for the Siena community. The project, coordinated by the Siena Art Institute, was developed in partnership with the University of Siena (Santa Chiara Lab and the Department of Physical, Earth, and Environmental Sciences), the Contrada della Tartuca, the La Mattonaia social farm, and the Riabilita Onlus Association. It was made possible with the support of the Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena as part of the SIENAindivenire grant program.
Florenart3 - Digital Renaissance for the contemporary sustainability
The Florenart3 project focused on the critical observation of the growth – in the Tuscan cities of art – of an impatient tourism that pursues a rapid, superficial and inexperienced cultural consumption in the search for cultural values other than those so easily available and accessible generally built by local operators. 6 young Italian artists and curators were involved the activities together with craftspeople, cultural operators, schools and small creative businesses. The project was developed in partnership between Siena Art Institute and Siena School for Liberal Arts and was funded by the Ministry of Culture (MIBAC) within the Sillumina programme.
The Seemingly Endless Path of Memory
Beauty and violence are at the heart of this project by the Siena Art Institute, carried out with the support of the Tuscany Region for Toscanaincontemporanea2016. During an artist residency in Siena, Imran Qureshi created a composite installation at the top of and along the entire height of the Torre Grossa in San Gimignano, using the traditional Pakistani miniature painting technique. Young artists-in-residence from the United States, Pakistan, and Greece assisted the artist throughout the project.
SignTeach
SignTeach is a European project for sign language teachers and their trainers based in the EU. For the project, a group of sign language teachers from 8 European countries created an Open Educational Resource (OER) including International Sign information about didactics, class management, the CEFR for sign languages, meta-linguistics, ICT and entrepreneurial skills, as well as interviews with beginning and experienced teachers and their learners.
Signs2Cross
For the Signs2Cross project, five European partners developed an online course to learn International Signs (IS), a language used by deaf people in international contexts such as political assemblies (WFD, EUD, WFDYS, EUDY, etc.), the Deaflympics—the Olympics for the deaf—and various international cultural events.
BiBiKit - A Bilingual Bimodal Reading and Writing Tool for Sign Language Users
The project developed a web-based editing software that allows users to easily and intuitively create interactive presentations made up of multiple slides, each containing images, texts, and signed videos. BiBiKit was designed as a tool for sign language users, including children, but also for educators, publishers, speech therapists, teachers, and families of deaf individuals. Project partners included Siena School for Liberal Arts, Møller Kompetansesenter Statped, Pragma, Hochschule Magdeburg – Stendal, Shh – The Communication Centre for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, UCLan – Department of Education and Social Science, University of Central Lancashire.