SART - Siena Art Institute

#places

SART Siena Art Institute

Siena

Siena is the Medieval heart of Italy, right in the middle of the famous region of Tuscany: it is just 1 hour from Florence, 2 hours from Bologna and Pisa, 3 hours from Rome.

The city itself is like a massive sculpture, with its multitude of intersecting layers, narrow, winding streets, frescoed churches and Gothic architecture, reflecting Siena’s multi-layered and complex identity. Siena is steeped in tradition, yet it is very much an active participant in contemporary culture, through numerous museums, galleries, and active communities of artists, musicians, and craftspeople.
Siena is home to two state-run Universities and has a thriving community of students. During all seasons of the year Siena offers a choice of lectures, exhibits, cinemas and culinary experiences.
The city is surrounded by a truly iconic countryside. There are 3 main areas around Siena: the Crete Senesi – the clay hills south of Siena, with stunning moon landscapes, and sardinian farmers with herds of sheep and cheese-making farms; the Montagnola Senese, the wooded hills north west of Siena, with the beautiful deep river Merse and the ruins of the medieval castles that served as fortification on the boundaries between Siena and Florence; and of course the famous Chianti region north and north east of Siena, with all its hills covered in vineyards and olive groves.

Inside the city of Siena itself there are plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy the green spaces that the city has to offer. These include but are not limited to: the fortezza, a historic defensive structure that has become a great place to hang out; Orto dei Pecci, a gorgeous public park just a few minutes walk from our school; and the Botanical Gardens. Streets like Via Pantaneto and Via Camollia offer plenty of options for grabbing a coffee or doing some shopping. Furthermore, the city of Siena is divided into “contrade” meaning each neighbourhood has its own identity, museums, and cultural and social centres. Siena is a small city, with a long history, it nonetheless offers visitors and residents alike new and exciting opportunities in every corner of the city.

Athens

With its rich cultural heritage, interesting architecture and lively contemporary arts community, Athens is one of the Siena Art Institute’s favourite places:

To the point that in 2020 we choose Athens to found our sister organisation Art Cloud Greece (ACG)! ACG supports the Siena Art Institute’s Greek alumni in organising community-focused art projects by helping them network, fundraise and involve more local and international artists in their activities. Through ACG the Siena Art Institute still offers scholarships and artist residencies in Siena to Greek young and established artists. From December 2025, ACG will support the Siena Art Institute in organising the Greek Arts Today seminar residency program, a special initiative based in Athens and open to all our School of Art and School of Liberal Arts semester students. More information here.

#spaces

Il Punto / The Point

From the summer of 2019, the Siena Art Institute has its headquarters at Il Punto | The Point, an independent building surrounded by greenery alongside the historic city gate Porta Romana. The building is part of the former Psychiatric Hospital complex and it is easily accessible by car from the gate of Via Piccolomini 2 or from the city centre by walking through the former Psychiatric Hospital (and current University building) San Niccolò. Il Punto | The Point is close to the main square of Siena “Piazza del Campo” (13 minutes walking distance) and the street of restaurants and nightlife Pantaneto (5 minutes walking distance). The Il Punto | The Point building includes two studio apartments for resident artists, shared and individual artist studios, conference room, painting studio, dark room, ceramics facilities, silversmithing room and, of course, the staff office spaces. Unfortunately the building is not fully-accessible for persons with mobility limitations. Our studios are located up a flight of stairs and do not have elevators. The conference room, which hosts our weekly “StARTers – Assaggi d’Arte” talks, is equipped with a ramp.

Ortoaperto Community Garden

In 2018 the Siena Art Institute created a small balcony garden in its previous premises to help our sustainability students gain some first-hand experience. When we moved to our new headquarters just one year later, we were delighted to be able to drastically expand the project. Just a few meters from Il Punto | The Point building, Ortoaperto is now a thriving space for Permacultural design and research, community involvement, volunteering work, sustainability awareness campaigns and agroecological and Permacultural training.

The Hidden Garden

Thanks to the support of local and international donors and to the matching of Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, in 2023 and 2024 a group of artists, architects, designers and craftspeople worked together on a narrow stripe of wood in the shadow of Siena’s medieval walls. Their objective was to codesign a green space accessible to deaf, blind and deafblind people while still preserving the natural ecosystem and artistic and cultural significance of the heritage listed area. The result is the Hidden Garden, a work-in-progress small grove that’s nonetheless open to the public.

A meeting space between art, culture and nature
A place of relaxation and reflection in greenery and silence
A corner with a thousand faces and colors
A real hidden garden, between “outside” and “inside” the walls, everything to discover

John Doe