The Academy community and its friends gathered in the twilight hours of a beautiful autumn evening at the Villa Aurelia to ring in the academic year, introduce new Fellows and present the program of public events to Trustees, Advisors, Friends, and many Roman guests. The façade of the Villa Aurelia provided a theatrical backdrop to a spectacle of three hundred or so guests. Director Christopher S. Celenza, FAAR’94, President Adele Chatfield-Taylor, FAAR’84, and the new Andrew Heiskell Arts Director, Peter Benson Miller, all offered inaugural remarks and welcomed the new Fellows. The Academy was honored to have the newly appointed United States Ambassador to Italy, John Phillips, and his wife Linda Douglass in attendance.
Christopher S. Celenza reminded the community that this year holds particular historical significance as it will mark the Centennial of the completion of the McKim, Mead and White building and the historic union of the arts and humanities under one roof. This spirit of collaboration between artists and scholars has since remained at the heart of the academy’s mission and the Director took a moment to acknowledge the Fellows, Residents, Affiliated Fellows, and Advisors who make up its dynamic international community. He then spoke for everyone in welcoming Peter Benson Miller as the Andrew Heiskell Arts Director for the 2013-2016 term.
Peter Benson Miller is an art historian and curator who received his training from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and worked for the Musée d’Orsay in Paris before moving to Rome. He has written numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics and has organized many successful exhibitions in Rome, including two dedicated to the American artists Philip Guston and Milton Gendel. He offered a few words about his experiences, expressed enthusiasm about working with an excellent group of incoming Fellows, and articulated the importance of collaborating closely with other cultural institutions in Rome.
Adele Chatfield-Taylor welcomed incoming Fellows to the Academy community by remarking on the shared love of the arts and humanities that unites both old and new friends in the “cultural miracle” that is Rome. She then extended a warm greeting to the newly appointed American Ambassador John Phillips, long time friend of the Academy and former Trustee, who spoke briefly on the reassuring presence of the Academy and its sustained cultural commitments. He also drew our attention to the tremendous contributions that Adele Chatfield-Taylor has made during her 25-year period of leadership. Valentina Moncada di Paternò, Chair of the McKim Medal Gala, then had an opportunity to welcome the Italian Affiliated Fellows and Elizabeth Helman Minchilli, Chair of the Friends of the American Academy in Italy, extended a few words of thanks to the 300 Friends of the Academy for their steadfast support.
Thus it was that the festivities launch us into what promises to be an exciting year of developments. As the American Academy celebrates 100 years of its hilltop presence on the Janiculum, it also introduces new public programming in the humanities and arts that will reach out to old friends and make new partnerships in this “cultural miracle” of a city.
The event was sponsored by California Prunes and California Bakery.