Governor Newsom Visits AAR

Color photograph of two light skinned men and one light skinned woman looking at rare books in a library
The Academy’s Drue Heinz Librarian Sebastian Hierl (right) shares treasures from the Barbara Goldsmith Rare Book Room with Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom (photograph provided by the California Governor’s Office)
Color photo of two women and one man looking at garden beds, with a building and trees behind them
Head of RSFP Garden and Groundskeeper Andrea Francini (left) and RSFP Chef Sara Levi (right) take Jennifer Siebel Newsom through the Rome Sustainable Food Project’s kitchen garden (photograph provided by the California Governor’s Office)

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom visited the American Academy as part of a trip to Rome that included an audience with Pope Francis. During their visit, the Newsoms toured the Academy, including the Janet & Arthur C. Ross Library and the grounds, lunching with the community at the long table. Several current Rome Prize Fellows hailing from California were especially glad to take selfies with their home state governor.

California’s first couple also took to the time to visit the Rome Sustainable Food Project’s kitchen garden, or orto. The RSFP, which was founded sixteen years ago under the guidance of the California chef Alice Waters, focuses on sustainable food practices and education. Newsom and Siebel Newsom learned about the kitchen’s work promoting farm-to-table, seasonal eating, and slow food—issues that resonate with the State of California’s focus on sustainability and the environment.

The gubernatorial visit celebrated cultural exchange between the United States and Italy and reinforced the Academy’s role as a representative of American arts, humanities, and culture in Europe.

Color photo of an Asian woman in a yellow dress gesturing to a painted wall mural of the Academy’s property to a light skinned man and woman
AAR Director Aliza Wong (center) shows the Academy’s mural to Gavin Newson and Jennifer Siebel Newsom (photograph provided by the California Governor’s Office)

Press inquiries

Hannah Holden / Keisha F. Frimpong

Resnicow and Associates

212-671-5154 / 212-671-5164

aar [at] resnicow.com (aar[at]resnicow[dot]com)

Maddalena Bonicelli

Rome Press Officer

+39 335 6857707

m.bonicelli.ext [at] aarome.org (m[dot]bonicelli[dot]ext[at]aarome[dot]org)