Italy Legacy Collage Workshop

Italy Legacy Collage Workshop with Berri Kramer

CREATE Your Legacy

Surrounded by the deep history and beauty of Italy, learn to use materials in a new and meaningful way as you bring your most cherished memories – your Legacy – into the present! On this extraordinary collage journey with Berri Kramer you’ll combine personal imagery of a loved one, or that of a beloved memory, along with a multitude of meaningful elements, to create your own contemporary work of art.

From family photos to personal ephemera, you’ll learn to artistically combine of variety of fascinating elements to achieve several unique and meaningful works that you’ll take back home with you.

ABOUT Berri Kramer

Berri Kramer grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts and spent as many hours as she could in the studios at DeCordova Museum. She earned a BFA in Design and Crafts from Kent State University and a Masters in Fiber from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Berri was the founder and President of Heartwood College of Art which thrived in Maine for 25 years.

” My work reflects the blocks of color and patterns that surround all of us everyday. I am fascinated by the tools and tracks that are unintentionally left behind. …a fiber remnant, a letter or a feather. The exercise in choosing from endless imagery and palettes, and editing it to distill the message, has become my practice in every medium. Often the scale of these snippets is exaggerated or reduced to take the viewer away from the ‘assumed’. The simplest forms can often tell the greatest story.”

DEFINING YOUR LEGACY…

Create multiple projects that honor your most cherished memories
Choose special photos that can be featured in personal, unique art projects (rather than forgotten in drawers or photo albums)
Incorporate ephemera and found materials in new and beautiful ways
Make botanical impressions to add another dimension to your artwork
Discover what you love in the process of creating personal imagery
Learn new ways to use a plethora of materials and techniques to enhance your Legacy project
Discover your personal sense of design
Create compositional energy and drama
Recognize the importance of scale and value within a given perimeter
Combine a variety of papers (rice, mulberry, tissue…)
Use a Gelli plate to achieve texture and to realize your personal palette
Stamp Italian paper to incorporate with your personal ephemera
Learn to use stencils, graphite and tissue to add depth and translucency
Adhere materials to a variety of substrates

ITINERARY

Day 1, Saturday April 6: Arrival

Welcome and trip orientation with Berri
Aperitivo, dinner

Benvenuti in Italia! Upon arrival at Rome Fiumicino Airport our private drivers will transport you to the Italian countryside, and your boutique hotel accommodations in the unspoiled village of Città della Pieve. After check in, you’ll enjoy a brief walking tour in the historic center of the village with trip facilitator, Pamela Haack, followed by a workshop overview with Berri. Then it’s time to gather together for a friendly aperitivo, followed by a delicious, regional-style dinner prepared by Chef Vito.

Day 2, Sunday April 7: Studio & Bruschetta

Highlights: Studio, bruschetta lesson
Breakfast, lunch and dinner

This morning, after an elegant, bullet-style breakfast, you’ll join Berri for a full morning session as you explore papers in a special, ephemera packet, and learn to set up and make gelli prints with different textures and a variation of palettes, on rice paper, tissue paper, copy paper, dictionary pages, book pages and more. Lunch today will be served up at nearby cafe, followed by an afternoon session with Berri.

This evening you’ll enjoy a mini-lesson on bruschetta (with an exceptional local olive oil, of course!) at our friends’ trattoria, followed by dinner cooked alle brace (over coals).

Day 3, Monday April 8: Studio, Stamping Lesson

Highlights: Stamping lesson with local artist, pizza night
Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning you’re in for a treat as you’re joined in the studio by local artist, Gaetano, for a fascinating, hands-on stamping lesson – a centuries-old tradition in Italy. Gaetano will share some of his favorite techniques, along with a delightful overview of the evolution of stamping. So inspiring! After lunch it’s back to the studio with Berri to work on your Legacy projects, as you learn a multitude of ways to incorporate found materials, ephemera and photos into a variety of projects.

In the evening, we’ll walk to a private home for aperitivo, followed by dinner at our favorite, wood-fired pizzeria.

Day 4, Tuesday April 9: Pienza

Highlights: Excursion to Pienza
Breakfast, dinner

This morning, after breakfast, it’s off by private transport to the spectacular Val d’Orcia – one of the most photographed areas in Tuscany – and the Renaissance hill town of Pienza. Here you’ll enjoy a brief tour of the town with a local guide – a town rebuilt by Pope Pius II in the 1400s, and an unmistakable symbol of his lasting legacy. Your visit includes a tour inside the Pope’s grand palazzo, followed by time on your own to explore, shop and enjoy lunch at a local trattoria or cafe.

In the afternoon, it’s back to the studio with Berri for a review of the day, followed by aperitivo and dinner served up by Chef Vito.

Day 5, Wednesday April 10: Studio, Pasta-making

Highlights: Instruction, pasta-making lesson
Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning, after breakfast, it’s off to the studio with Berri for an inspiring morning session that includes working with multiple materials and techniques, including botanicals, as you refine your Legacy projects. Lunch will be served up at nearby Cafe degli Artisti, followed by continued time in the studio.

In the late afternoon, we’ll walk to our friend, Cristian’s, cozy bistro for a delightful pasta-making lesson that includes a visit inside his amazing wine cantina. Dinner follows, featuring your hand-made pasta, of course!

Day 6, Thursday April 11: Studio, Farewell

Highlights: Instruction, final critique, farewell dinner
Breakfast, lunch and dinner

This morning it’s off to the studio with Berri for a final morning session that includes bringing your Legacy projects to life. Lunch will be served up at nearby Cafe degli Artisti, followed by continued time in the studio.

The afternoon brings a final critique with Berri, followed by a special Legacy-inspired aperitivo and farewell dinner, prepared by Chef Vito.

Day 7, Friday April 12: Departure

Early morning transport to Rome Fiumicino Airport.

ACCOMMODATIONS ~ Boutique Hotel Vannucci

Hotel Vannucci began as a project of Vittoria Spinola, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II, who fled Pisa (and an arranged marriage with her elderly husband) to start a new life with her lover in Città della Pieve. Here, she and her soon-to-be new husband, Paolo, built two villas that became luxurious holiday accommodations for wealthy Romans vacationing in the countryside. In 1903 one of the villas became Hotel Vannucci, and today it maintains the elegance and refinement of its inception, with luxurious sleeping rooms, marble bathrooms and inviting gardens. A stay here is truly special, nestled just outside the medieval walls of the historic, and unspoiled, village of Città della Pieve.

VIEW Photo Gallery

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Daily, individualized instruction with Berri Kramer
7 days/6 nights at elegant Hotel Vannucci in Città della Pieve
Private ground transportation to/from Rome Fiumicino Airport on arrival and departure days
Private ground transportation on excursions included in the itinerary
Excursion to Città della Pieve
All abundant breakfasts
5 Lunches
All Dinners, featuring local wines
Evening aperitivo hour
Bruschetta with olive oil tasting
Stamping lesson with local print artist
Pizza night
Lessons, demonstrations, presentations and individual instruction with with Berri Kramer and assistant Susan Wilder
Paper packet #1 (for Gelli printing)
Paper Packet #2 (ephemera)
Gelli Plate, Brayer, matte medium, stencil, brush (for you to keep!)
Also supplied: Gelli printing paint, letterpress ink, sumi-e ink

Not included: Airfare, meals, alcoholic drinks, buses, trains or boat transportation outside of that which is specifically listed in the trip package, gratuities for staff and drivers

The Unexpected is Part of the Journey: Although we are weaving amazing, authentic experiences into this trip, sometimes unexpected things come up. If a site has an unscheduled closing, we improvise to include something equally as wonderful and interesting. The quality of the trip is never at risk, as our hosts at Strada Toscana are committed to excellence, along with their vast Italian connections.

What Berri’s Students are Saying…

🌻 Amazing trip and workshop! Fun, informative, organized, inspiring, interesting, filling (food – yes!), creative, artistically active and instructive – all in a magnificently beautiful setting! Best time ever! Thank you! ~Kathy

🌻 This art experience was all inclusive – and it was the glue that put this “life collage” together. A once in a lifetime journey of outstanding organization and balance of activities. Every moment was a treasure. Thank you SO MUCH for this life experience! ~ Marcia

🌻 Berri Kramer’s collage workshop in Italy turned into a life-affirming foray into color, shape, texture, design, play and confidence. Could not have ever dreamed of the many life-enriching, immersive experiences within the already exciting experience that I signed up for. Joyous moments bubbled throughout our art workshop – no moment that didn’t dance with learning…. and filling all the senses. Recommending to all! ~ Patti

🌻 The collage workshop was helpful, educational and fun! This experience gave me new insight. Berri is so generous and talented, she has an enormous capacity for sharing on many levels. I certainly would recommend traveling and doing art with Berri. ~ Lee

🌻 Total immersion in the art of collage and the culture of Città della Pieve – I loved every bit of it! Bellissimo! ~ Kathy

🌻 Just the best week of laughter and learning and meeting a new tribe of artistic souls. Every experience was lovely and so well planned. I have learned so much more than I could have expected – not only about the visual language of collage, but also about the history of our beautiful Italian village – I am coming back soon! ~ Bebra

🌻 This experience has been beyond inspirational. Berri and Susan pushed me out of my comfort zones and helped me re-establish healthier boundaries for me to consider, and to bring home to my studio. This has been a life changing experience. The only bad part is that not other tour will match what I’ve just witnessed! ~ Tim

🌻 This workshop was so wonderful, and I learned a lot! It was by far the most fun and interesting trip I’ve taken in a long time (and I’ve been on a number of trips!). Everything was exceptional. What an experience – I plan to tell everyone! ~ Karen