One of the main pleasures to teach young leaders is to notice how places and cultural reflection shape their sense of self, enriching their knowledge and finding new purpose to discover the unique pleasures of intercultural transformations. Seeing students in action, resiliently adapting to new contexts and environments, working in collaborative projects and presenting their perspectives with confidence is uniquely special. These shared experiences informed empowered student voices and constituted the bulk of hands-on experiences in the newly launched interdisciplinary course. Landscape Stories: Art and Ecology in Siena. A unique four-week long program that offers our OSU students the opportunity to refine artistic, sustainable, and intercultural skills while exploring the cityscapes and cultural heritage of Siena.
The program is organized by the Ohio State University in collaboration with the Siena Art Institute and colleagues from the University of Siena engaged in sustainability practices and civic engagement.
SART provides not only artistic spaces for collaborative and immersive technical and conceptual training, but also skills and knowledge, allowing the two institutions (SART & OSU) to meet and enrich each other. The first directors for the 2026 edition were OSU profs Suzanne Silver (Art) and Giuliano Migliori (Frit).
The spirit of the program is deeply rooted in interdisciplinarity featuring art studio assignments, visits to cultural institutions, a permaculture demonstration, initiatives of social sustainability and ecology, and a variety of discussions on food, the arts, and cultural land history. Students actively engage in the life of the city and experience the relations between the community, art, and nature in Siena. The ancient and the modern, the sacred and the secular: these comparisons offer additional ideas and inspirations for the works that students are creating throughout the program and presenting them in Open Studio events to the public.
The Program is open to ALL majors, and specifically tailored towards learners interested in art, architecture, ecology, permaculture, blue and green humanities, and, obviously, Italian culture. We are excited to run it again in Summer 2027 with the photographer and Guggenheim fellow, Dionne Lee, as the new Art director.