At AWA, we are very excited to begin a partnership with FSU, starting May 10, 2019, with the commencement of summer session. This one-year pilot project will involve students interested in being part of our Art Angels fundraising and advocacy program. AWA and FSU are also working with visiting professors, faculty and staff members to develop didactic opportunities that enable students to experience, understand and advocate for art by women in the city and farther afield. FSU is one of the oldest US education abroad centers in Florence. It was inaugurated in 1966, the year the city was gravely damaged by the Arno’s tragic flooding. Its students quickly became Mud Angels and participated in emergency restoration efforts to save flooded paintings, sculptures and precious books. The photo above says more than a thousand words! Mud Angels were mostly students and professors from all over the world who joined the desperate quest to protect Florence’s treasures. With our joint program, the Mud Angels meet the Art Angels and uphold the tradition of restoration in Florence, by working together in support of art by women in need of repair.
Florida State University students, Mud Angels in Florence, 1966