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New York, NY, January 19, 2012 – Representatives of the Columbus Citizens Foundation will join local and national Italian representatives tomorrow in a ceremony to present L’Aquila and Abruzzo with material and humanitarian aid. Held in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, the event will recall the devastating earthquake that struck L’Aquila on April 6, 2009, and honor the indomitable spirit of the people of L’Aquila and the province of Abruzzo as they continue to rebuild their lives and communities.

The ceremony will take place at the Piazza Duomo in L’Aquila on January 20, 2012, at 10:00 AM.

As part of the event, Frank Fusaro and Louis Tallarini, president and chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, respectively, will present Massimo Cialente, Mayor of L’Aquila, with a mobile police unit that has long been a great need of the city’s to facilitate serving its displaced populace and a statue. They will also announce a fund established by the Columbus Citizens Foundation to underwrite arts scholarships for students of the area.

Mr. Fusaro and Mr. Tallarini will also present as a donation to the people of L’Aquila “Eagle Portrait,” a bronze sculpture by renowned American artist Greg Wyatt, who is making the gift of the sculpture with the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. In Italian, “aquila” means “eagle,” and the donation will serve to commemorate the transAtlantic cultural bridge and enduring bonds between the nations of Italy and the United States.

“On April 6, 2009, the City of L’Aquila and the Province of Abruzzo suffered a devastating earthquake that took hundreds of lives, left thousands injured and many more homeless, and destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings and monuments in this great Medieval city,” said Mr. Fusaro. “At the time, the Columbus Citizens Foundation contacted officials here to let them know that they were in our hearts and that we would stand at the ready to provide aid as needed. That day has come, and we have not forgotten our solemn vow to our brothers and sisters in Italy.”

“As representatives of an Italian-American organization, we are proud and privileged to share a common ancestry with the people of L’Aquila and Abruzzo,” said Mr. Tallarini. “We come to L’Aquila humbled by the tremendous spirit they have shown in working together to rebuild their lives and community. The people of L’Aquila and Abruzzo are an inspiration to us and to the world. Their plight and determination, their resourcefulness and their continuing need must not be forgotten.”
 

Mayor Cialente said in a statement, “We welcome Mr. Fusaro and Mr. Tallarini as representatives of the Columbus Citizens Foundation and the heartfelt support that they have provided during the long, difficult years since the earthquake struck. The task of the people of L’Aquila and Abruzzo, nearly three years later, remains daunting. Thousands of our citizens remain in refugee camps untethered from their homes and removed from their relatives and neighbors. Yet they strive to go on with their lives as they raise their families and remain part of our community. The generosity of the Foundation and its members, in spirit and support, are a welcome and critical reminder for us that the world outside continues to support and remember us as we rebuild our historic region.”

The Columbus Citizens Foundation tomorrow will present to Eugenio Vendrame, the Chief Police Officer of L’Aquila, a mobile police unit that will let L’Aquila police adapt to the changed demographics of L’Aquila’s population. Today, approximately 18,000 L’Aquila residents still live in temporary housing constructed outside the traditional boundary of the city. Members of L’Aquila’s police department, often called upon to resolve situations that involve the elderly and disabled, have been hampered by responding to calls with traditional police cars. The mobile unit will let L’Aquila’s police provide immediate assistance to the displaced people of the city.

The ceremony will also feature the presentation and unveiling of “Eagle Portrait,” a sculpture by Greg Wyatt, Sculptor-in-Residence of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City and Master Teacher of the Foundation’s Franco Zeffirelli Scholarship Fund for the Arts program. The 6-foot, 2-inch tall bronze sculpture, including base, pays homage to one of nature’s most noble creatures while illustrating the fierce determination of the people of L’Aquila to surmount the devastation caused by the earthquake of 2009 and rebuild their ancient city and community.

Mr. Wyatt works in bronze, and his art has been described as based in the philosophy of spiritual realism. It is found in public collections and museums in countries around the world, including China, England, France, Greece, Italy, and the United States. His work often addresses issues of freedom, individual spirit and achievement, the fine and performing arts, and themes from classical literature and texts. “Eagle Portrait,” which was created in 1999, was a model-to-monument preparatory work in the development of “Soaring American Eagle,” which is on permanent display at the U.S. Department of State. Michelangiolo Bastiani, of Florence, was instrumental in arranging the donation of “Eagle Portrait.”

At the ceremony, Mr. Fusaro and Mr. Tallarini will also announce the Foundation’s creation of the L’Aquila Scholarship Program, through which students of the arts from L’Aquila will have the opportunity to study their disciplines in New York City. The L’Aquila Scholarship Program will be part of the Foundation’s Franco Zeffirelli Scholarship Fund for the Arts, which was established in 2002 in honor of Mr. Zeffirelli’s contributions to the world of film and stage. The Zeffirelli Fund continues a long-standing tradition of cultural exchange between Italy and the United States that dates back to the founding of America and has provided funding to students in the fine and performing arts.

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About the Columbus Citizens Foundation

The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement.  The Foundation, through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities, provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American students through various scholarship and grant programs. During the 2011-2012 school year, the Foundation is providing just under $2 million in scholarship assistance to over 500 students. The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has been held under the auspices of the Foundation since 1944. Known as a leading proponent of Italian and Italian American culture and heritage in the United States, the Columbus Citizens Foundation in 2010 was the lead American organization in reinstating the Advanced Placement Program in Italian Language and Culture program in the American educational system.

There is no place like Rome. It is a city with roots in nearly three thousand years of history that is focused on the future. The Rome of today offers exceptional tourism experiences, thanks in part to its high quality hospitality services.

On the morning of December 8, at the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce, a workshop, open to buyers and operators in the tourism sector, was held to discuss the touristic offerings of Rome and, more in general, Lazio, as a land with wide-ranging offerings that go from cultural to religious tourism, tourism for congresses and conferences, for wines and gastronomy and fashion.

The name of the campaign promoting the city is Rome is More and it has been organized by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce with the participation of the Rome Chamber of Commerce. At the presentation there were Consul Caterina Cittadino, Department Head of the Department for Development and Competitiveness in Tourism, Giancarlo Cremonesi, President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, Gianluca De Gaetano, Deputy Director of the Rome Hotel Association, Federalberghi Roma, and Miss Mencarelli of Federlaberghi. Among the guests there was also the Director of ENIT, Riccardo Strano, who confirmed that Rome is the number one city attracting tourists from all over the world.

“We are celebrating Rome not just as the capital of Italy, but as the capital of culture in the world,” Consul Cittadino said, “it’s a city that talks to us of history, beauty, art. But also of excellence in the crafts, food and wine, fashion, audiovisual production and avant-garde cultural infrastructures.”

Giancarlo Cremonesi, President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, added, “Today Rome offers tourists an ample sampling of options, along with out ancient ruins and our architectural heritage that is known throughout the world, are modern cultural infrastructures like the Music Park Auditorium designed by Renzo Piano, which hosts each year the Rome International Film Festival and the Rome Fiction Fest and the Maxxi, Zaha Hadid’s work, that now holds the National Museum of XXI Century Art.”

As per Consul Pellegrino despite the economic crisis the tourism sector is in continuous growth especially in the so called Art Capitals: Rome, Venice and Florence, where 35% of all tourists go. 60% of the tourists visiting these three cities are foreigners. The Italian government is focusing on tourism as an important resource that can help economy a great deal. “In the past each region was in charge of its tourism, now everything is in the hands of a ministry focused on the coordination and promotion of the sector,” she explained. “Growth is not something that happens overnight but the result of a focused campaign.”

Despite the great numbers (+18% in the last two years) there is room for improvement and work on having tourists stay longer than the average two and a half days. “In order to do that,” Consul Pellegrino said, “we have to offer something more than the usual artistic destinations… we call this the Second Touristic Hub project… there are parks, sports facilities, the beach, other museums. There is a lot to do and a quality of life that is simply unparalleled.”

Apparently the biggest fans of the Italian lifestyle are Americans as per Mr. De Gaetano who said that “Americans are the highest number of visiting tourists. They prefer to stay in 4 star hotels and they have very specific demands that all hotels are able to meet. They require 16-24hr reception service, fitness centers, internet access and fire regulations. All new structures are built following specific needs, while old structures are being revamped in order to be competitive. These efforts to prevail have some great results: for example, more and more hotels are opening their restaurants to the public. These places are decorated in trendy styles, all the cool people go there and famous chefs are hired to design unique menus.”

Despite the crisis Roman hotel owners keep investing in order to be up to standards and be in competition with the rest of Europe. Although many already think that there is no competition with Rome, one of the most loved cities in the world.

Saviano’s nonfiction exposé on the inner workings of the Neapolitan Mafia, or Camorra, became an international bestseller with over 10 million copies sold around the world.

Since the release of “Gomorrah” in 2006, Saviano has lived in hiding with 24-hour police protection, after receiving a number of serious death threats for attracting so much attention to the topic of the ever expanding criminal infiltrations in the economic system through illicit businesses and money laundering.


In Zuccotti Park, Saviano will be discussing the correlation between the worsening of the economic crisis and the uprising criminal organizations, representing a globally pervasive cancer of the international economic system.


In a video message to the OWS protesters, Saviano declared: “I am glad the Occupy Wall Street organizers have invited me to join you to talk about the way Mafia can exploit an economic crisis to grow more powerful and accumulate more money”.

On Thursday November 10, 2011 at 6pm in the Billy Johnson Auditorium of Newark Museum (49 Washington St, Newark, NJ) there will be a panel discussion on the importance of the works of an Italian-American artist Joseph Stella.

This panel is presented by The “Theresa and Lawrence R. Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies” at Montclair State University in collaboration with the Newark Museum, the Consulate of Italy in Newark, the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C., and the Art History Program of the Department of Art and Design at Montclair State University.

Joseph Stella (1877-1946) and his Futurist polyptych “Voice of the City of New York Interpreted” (on display at the Newark Museum) illustrates the hybrid trajectory of this transatlantic avant-garde artist whose paintings are considered iconic images of New York City’s urban architecture. The aim of the panel is to shed light onto the magnitude of Stella’s contribution to Futurism, an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and moreover the input of Stella as the Italian-American in American Futurism.

Speakers will include:

 ·   Ara H. Merjian - Professor of Italian Studies and Art History, NYU
  "The Feet of the Stars: Stella’s New York Future"
·   Barbara Haskell - Art Historian and Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art "Joseph Stella: The Conjunction of Worlds"
·   Renato Miracco - Art critic/Museum Curator and Cultural Attaché, Italian Embassy in D.C. "Stella and the Futurists: Italian Itineraries in the American Museums"
·   Pellegrino D’Acierno - Professor of Italian and Comparative Studies, Hofstra University "A Reading from Stella’s Notes"

The moderator of this project is Dr. Teresa Fiore - Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, Montclair State University.

The museum’s American Art galleries hosting Stella’s polyptych will be open to the public throughout the event.

A Q&A and refreshments will follow the panel.

This event is free and open to the public.

RSVP is required. Please call (973) 596-6550 or write to [email protected]
For directions to the Newark Museum: http://www.newarkmuseum.org/Directions.html
For event information: http://www.montclair.edu/inserra/events (click on Joseph Stella)