I recently heard that Paolo Barucchieri passed away, so I would like to take this moment to pay my respects and gratitude.
Paolo began what would become Italart, the consortium of American universities, including The University of Texas at Austin, and which would be a temporary home and in situ living campus for thousands of students for nearly 40 years.
Paolo had a passion for Art, for the History of Art, for the production of Art, for the appreciation of Art, for the Beauty of Art. Paolo was already part of a dying breed of amateurs, those who Love merely for the sake of loving, and not gaining, and with his passing, that breed loses a true adherent to Beauty and Art.
Italart eventually found its resting place in the old girls' school of Santa Chiara in a small hillside Tuscan town of Castiglion Fiorentino, which is where I had the great fortune to be a recipient of the vision that Paolo had of establishing a study-abroad campus whose sole function it was to inspire, to challenge, to fascinate, and to bring a sense of Art to the lives of the students and faculty who took part in Italart.
Although Paolo was already becoming the wizened wizard behind the scenes at Italart when we were there, he and his family were the backbone and Soul of the organization. I remember fondly the times spent with him and Sharon, Garnette, Gianfranco, Marco, Debbie, Antonella, and the many people who made up the extended family of Italart.
Paolo was not shy about his ideological view towards Art and its ability to transcend and to lift one's Soul above and beyond the physical world of mundane life. An artist himself, he truly believed in the magical power of Art and the mystery of its creation and the power of its Beauty. He strove to instill that wonder in his students and fellow colleagues, even at the expense of alienating them, should they have more pragmatic or materialist views. He held his ground, if not stubbornly at times, then with Passion.
With Poalo's death, the small community of Castiglion Fiorentino loses both a patriarch of the Humanities as well as a cherished son of its culture.
My condolences to the Barucchieri family and to the extended family of thousands of students and faculty who were touched by the indelible mark of Paolo's vision and dream of Italart.
Grazie Paolo, e forza...
Paolo began what would become Italart, the consortium of American universities, including The University of Texas at Austin, and which would be a temporary home and in situ living campus for thousands of students for nearly 40 years.
Paolo had a passion for Art, for the History of Art, for the production of Art, for the appreciation of Art, for the Beauty of Art. Paolo was already part of a dying breed of amateurs, those who Love merely for the sake of loving, and not gaining, and with his passing, that breed loses a true adherent to Beauty and Art.
Italart eventually found its resting place in the old girls' school of Santa Chiara in a small hillside Tuscan town of Castiglion Fiorentino, which is where I had the great fortune to be a recipient of the vision that Paolo had of establishing a study-abroad campus whose sole function it was to inspire, to challenge, to fascinate, and to bring a sense of Art to the lives of the students and faculty who took part in Italart.
Although Paolo was already becoming the wizened wizard behind the scenes at Italart when we were there, he and his family were the backbone and Soul of the organization. I remember fondly the times spent with him and Sharon, Garnette, Gianfranco, Marco, Debbie, Antonella, and the many people who made up the extended family of Italart.
Paolo was not shy about his ideological view towards Art and its ability to transcend and to lift one's Soul above and beyond the physical world of mundane life. An artist himself, he truly believed in the magical power of Art and the mystery of its creation and the power of its Beauty. He strove to instill that wonder in his students and fellow colleagues, even at the expense of alienating them, should they have more pragmatic or materialist views. He held his ground, if not stubbornly at times, then with Passion.
With Poalo's death, the small community of Castiglion Fiorentino loses both a patriarch of the Humanities as well as a cherished son of its culture.
My condolences to the Barucchieri family and to the extended family of thousands of students and faculty who were touched by the indelible mark of Paolo's vision and dream of Italart.
Grazie Paolo, e forza...
