Features

Maria Cecilia Lovato, the 2027 Franco Zeffirelli Italian Fellow in Modern Italian Studies,  is an art historian working on Italian visual culture in the first half of the twentieth century, with particular attention to the interwar period and the relationship between the visual arts and colonialism. 

The American Academy in Rome mourns the passing of Charles Witke, 1962 Fellow and 1998 Resident, and Professor Emeritus of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. He died on March 21, 2026, at the age of 95.

Rebecca Kerns, the 2027 Samuel H. Kress Foundation Rome Prize in Ancient Studies, is a PhD candidate in Classics specializing in Roman archaeology and urban history. Her work explores forces of change and stasis in Roman cities, with a particular focus on urban disasters. 

The American Academy in Rome is pleased to present its fall exhibition, Giorgio Griffa/Kamrooz Aram: Paintings, curated by Ilaria Puri Purini. The show, which sets the painters Giorgio Griffa (b. 1936, Turin) and Kamrooz Aram (b. 1978, Shiraz) in dialogue, will open on October 20 from 6 to 9 PM in the AAR Gallery. The exhibition will run from October 23 to November 28, 2026, open on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 7 PM.

Sir Isaac Julien (2016 Resident and 2023 New York Gala Centennial Medal honoree) presents a new installation of his film All That Changes You. Metamorphosis on view at the Galleria Borghese in Rome through October 25. An artist whose practice is itself in constant transformation, Julien returns to a city that has helped shape his work.

Francisco J. Cintrón Mattei, the 2027 Millicent Mercer Johnsen Rome Prize Fellow in Medieval Studies, is a PhD candidate at the University of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute. He is currently completing his dissertation, titled The Christian Imamate of Al-Andalus: Law, Society & Christian Community in the Islamic West.

On the occasion of Dr. Anthony Grafton (2004 Resident) having been awarded the 2026 International Prize for History by the International Committee for the Historical Sciences (CISH) and delivering a public lecture, we are publishing a brief interview with Dr. Grafton.

Corrado Cagli: Nostoi. Rome New York Taormina, an exhibition in Taormina, Sicily, highlights the creative journey and complex homecoming of Corrado Cagli (1910–1976). The exhibition is curated by Raffaele Bedarida, with the artistic direction of Franco Baldasso (2019 Fellow), and features exhibition design by Pietro Airoldi (2025 Affiliated Artist).

The Academy is pleased to welcome Fulvio Peppucci, a senior executive and former partner at Bain & Company, as its new Chief Operating Officer. 

It is with great sadness that the Academy remembers Devon Dikeou, 2025 Jules Guérin Rome Prize Fellow in Visual Arts, an artist, publisher, and collector. She died on October 6, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. She was 63.

Tom Zhuohun Wang, the 2027 Arthur Ross Rome Prize Fellow in Ancient Studies, is a PhD candidate in Classics and History at Yale University. He is currently working on his dissertation, titled Beyond Euergetism and Taxation: Financing Western Roman Cities from the First to Third Centuries CE. 

Francesca LaPasta, the 2027 Emeline Hill Richardson/Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Rome Prize in Ancient Studies, is a PhD candidate in Classical Archaeology in the Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently working on her dissertation, titled Living under Lock and Key: Slavery and Security in the Houses of Pompeii.

Jordan Rogers, the 2027 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Rome Prize in Ancient Studies, is a social and cultural historian of the ancient Mediterranean world, with a particular interest in the sociology of small communities and urbanism in antiquity. He is currently Assistant Professor of History at North Carolina State University.

On Monday, September 28, 2026, the American Academy in Rome welcomed chef and restaurateur Alice Waters and local farmers to the Academy for a special lunch marking the beginning of a year-long celebration, concluding in the spring of 2027, to commemorate twenty years of the Project.

Christine Sun Kim (2026 Resident in Graphic Design) has been named a 2026 MacArthur Fellow, joining nineteen other Fellows whose work represents exceptional creativity and accomplishment in their fields.

Neeraj Bhatia is an architect, urban designer, and educator whose work resides at the intersection of politics, housing, infrastructure, and urbanism. He is an Associate Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where he also serves as Director of the Urban Design Program.

The American Academy in Rome mourns the passing of Charles K. Williams, a Trustee Emeritus of the Academy, former Director of the Corinth Excavations and the former Chair of the Board of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. He died on September 16, 2026, at age 96.

Taji Ra'oof Nahl, also known as TR7, is a Philadelphia-based interdisciplinary artist whose practice brings together moving image, sculpture, installation, sound, research, and public activation. Working through his evolving methodology, Field Trips to Staged Productions, Nahl develops long-form projects that move from concept and archival inquiry into exhibitions, films, performances, publications, and site-responsive interventions.

This past Saturday, September 19, 2026, the Academy hosted the Italian premiere of Field of Vision as part of Romaeuropa Festival, composed by Michael Gordon, 2027 Paul Fromm Resident in Composition at the American Academy in Rome, and performed by Blow-Up Percussion. We sat down with Flavio Tanzi, the ensemble director of Blow-Up Percussion, to learn more about how the collaboration came to be, how the ensemble prepared for this massive undertaking, and how the experience was.

In June 2025, the American Academy in Rome unveiled the latest restoration of Villa Chiaraviglio and the expansion of the Rare Book Room Library. This long-awaited project allowed library collections that had exceeded the institution's storage and display capacity to be securely and prominently featured in a new home. A year later, we delve into the origins and impressive results of the project.