Studio Art Centers International

I still remember every day I spent in Italy, every trip we took to historic places around Tuscany and Umbria - all the old treasures we witnessed and hungrily tried to digest. I was a young Russian art student who was walking the stone-paved roads of Italy I had dreamed about most of my life. I never view SACI as just a fine arts school in Florence. The experiences I had in and through SACI were more than those you get in a school: it was my honeymoon as an art student. My teachers, my classmates, the buildings I studied in, were more like an extended family and home. I simply loved it.

Without any clear notions about what to do with my future, I came to SACI from Switzerland, not quite sure what to expect. Looking back now it turned out to be a decision that has had a defining impact on my life and future career in more ways than one. Not only was I rewarded with one of the most varied and intense educational experiences of my whole scholastic career, but I also made some good friends that I have kept contact with ever since. But maybe even more importantly, I also realized that being an artist might actually be a viable option. So I decided to apply to several US universities, since most of my friends were American, and I eventually ended up getting a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and am now working as an artist.

After SACI, I went on to start my degree program in the States at Syracuse University. I later transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, where I graduated in Graphic Design. There were short stints of design study in Japan, followed by being employed at Microsoft as a graphic designer. I am now back in India, where I have been running my own graphic design studio since the early '90s. I love what I do and have not forgotten the initial enrichment in art and design bestowed upon me by SACI.

I stumbled upon SACI by coincidence. I think I may have actually wandered in off the street. It was a wonderful, interesting, liberating time. I didn't realize it at the time, but I lucked into what was for me a whole new world of possibilities! I went on to get a BFA, and having had drawing classes at SACI with Jules Maidoff came in very handy!

SACI was crucial in my life decisions! In 2000, I graduated from the University of North Carolina, where I got my MBA. The same year, I started Canita, a brand of non-carbonated soft drinks targeted at the Latino market in the US. One of the most important aspects of consumer products is the package design. It was very clear from the start that Canita had to grab the attention of consumers and communicate its quality, authentic flavor and natural ingredients. As I searched for design firms and prepared the creative brief, I remembered many of the concepts I was taught at SACI. Had I not been to SACI, I would have not been able to hire the right artists and provide them with a clear guideline. Ultimately, Canita earned a couple of design awards from the Glass institute, and its package design was one of the features that allowed canita to be sold in such retail outlets as Whole Foods, Target, Jewel, and Amazon.com.

The SACI experience changed everything for me. After I had finished my Baccalaureate in Zorich, I spent six months in Florence, learning Italian and taking classes at SACI. There, I became immersed in the world of drawing, painting, studio life, and the beauty of visual expression. Ever since then, what I learned at SACI has guided me whenever I have had to make my next big decision. After SACI, I enrolled at the Kunstakademie of Dosseldorf in Germany, and studied painting and film for 3 years. I moved to New York in 1985, and started painting and making Super-8 and 16mm movies. My artist friends in Williamsburg were my subjects. It was a magical time. With me were fellow SACI alumni Jill Glick, Ethan Pettit, Dominik Leuenberg, Carolina von Halt and Verena Merz. In 1989, I won a NYFA award for one of my 16mm painting animation movies Opera Ontologica. I founded Brooklyn's first film festival, the AVANT BROOKLYN FILM NOIR FESTIVAL. I got into photography and started taking pictures of the Williamsburg scene. I exhibited in many galleries. All this eventually got me work on Madison Avenue, where I am now an Associate Creative Director of Art at Euro RSCG. I draw every day. I take pictures every day. My life is filled with art. And I can never stop experiencing the world the way I started to see it at SACI.

I went without knowing what I would find, who I would meet, and more importantly, what I was looking for on my journey! SACI had an important role at the very beginning of my development as an artist. After SACI, my journey continued to other countries, and hasn't stopped. I've made more friends and met influential people - but I've never ceased thinking of my SACI friends! I am grateful to SACI for giving me the encouragement, help, and almost total freedom that brought out the best in me during my year in Italy. Of course, I haven't always been able to keep that best part of me lively on the continuing journey, but that's because life demands that one redefine himself of herself constantly. SACI, you are in my heart, now and forever!

I had the good fortune to discover SACI as a SouthSteven Brittan African Architecture student during study abroad in 1983. I heard about SACI through a fellow student who went there a year before me. It would not be an exaggeration at all to say that the combination of studying there for a semester in 1983 and later returning to SACI to teach after graduating from University of Cape Town in 1985 completely changed my life. It did so by opening my eyes and expanding my intellectual horizons through the combination of extraordinary teaching in the Fine Arts and History in combination with the pure submersion in the rich culture of Florence. SACI also provided a wonderful platform to develop my portfolio for acceptance into Harvard University's Masters of Architecture program. After graduating at Harvard, I went on to teach in Architecture programs at various universities; Harvard, Columbia University, Rhode Island School, and for several years served as the Assistant Director in the Housing Department for the City of Boston. I am now principal of the Boston office of an international Architecture firm called Burt Hill, and I am a member of the Board of Directors. I am happy to say that I continue to maintain a strong personal interest and involvement at SACI serving as a member of the Board of Trustees.

My year at SACI helped me collect so much information about design art. I remember each day, each instructor, and each classmate. I thank SACI for providing such a precious learning opportunity. I was able to learn about and be in direct contact with rich and abundant artistic resources, which fed my art. The many different subjects, the varied professors, from art history to Illustration, and the seminars have had a deep and lasting effect on my work as a designer. Since my return to China, the memories of that special time at SACI are often with me.

Studying in Florence at SACI was my first experience away from home in a place buzzing like a beehive! The Italians and the school were very welcoming, so it was refreshing and easy to find one's niche. Florence was a meaningful place to be as a young adult, the awakening of so many different parts of the self, culturally, sensually, living with the reality of the Renaissance, which is so much centered around understanding the nature of humanity. I have many,many fond memories that helped form the person I am today!

It seems like a life time since that Fall of '93 when I attended SACI. However, I always keep the memory of that experience very close to me. There are few events in a person's life that create a new way of looking at things. For an artist, these events are of utmost importance. SACI offered me, with the backdrop of Florence, that experience which I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Italy is a wonderful place that opened my mind to new opportunities for artistic expression. I believe SACI is a successful program as it allows individuals freedom to explore their surroundings and step out of their culture bubble.

Had I not been introduced to the field of museum education through SACI's Museology course and been so moved by it during a field trip to the Educational Department at the Center for Contemporary Art 'Luigi Pecci', I would never have found my dream career.