Life As Art: The Art Monastery Project Fundraiser Event	by K. O'Day

A gala fundraising event will be held at Duo on Wednesday, May 21, to benefit an international endeavor called The Art Monastery Project. Located at a 17th-century baroque Ursuline convent in Calvi dell’Umbria, Italy, the Monastery is the concept of American artists Christopher Fülling and Betsy McCall. Calvi is the southernmost comune of Umbria, about 45 minutes northeast of Rome, a location hand-picked by the Monastery’s founders for its beautiful, wooded scenery and relatively small year-round population, with a town government that supports the artists’ vision to create a unique international cultural center for artists of all disciplines. Fülling is a trained tenor specializing in early baroque music and Gregorian chant with an MFA in voice performance and opera directing from the California Institute of the Arts. McCall is a visual artist originally from Williamsville who holds degrees from Yale and the San Francisco Art Institute. McCall is also the former editor of publications at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and an internationally ranked synchronized swimmer. This diversely accomplished couple cites a “life as art vision” behind the project, which will incorporate their respective interests by joining a community of artists and musicians from around the world who share a desire to live and work collectively in an environment designed to foster their productivity. Guests and residents will share a regular schedule designed to add focus and structure to the creative process with a contemplative, ritualistic aspect. For instance, each day’s work will end with a group Gregorian chant before bed. If that sounds idyllic, there are a plenty more examples of the goings-on already in effect at the Monastery.

The Art Monastery in Calvi dell'Umbria, Italy

This month saw the San Pancrazio Festival, a five-day celebration of music, dancing, and art; Pancratius Vesper, a Gregorian chant performed in the coro of the Monastery; and an Isadora Duncan Dance Performance presented in the garden. July will be dedicated to the production of the Ursuline Nuns’ Vespers by Baroque composer (and Ursuline nun) Isabella Leonarda, including a presentation of La Maddalena, a program exploring the legend of Mary Magdalene. The summer’s festivities will culminate with Fülling and McCall’s wedding in early October.

Wednesday’s event in Buffalo is the first on this leg of the US fundraising tour, which next stops in Boston and then in San Francisco. McCall will be in attendance at Duo to make a presentation about the project, and a silent auction of paintings and prints and live classical music will round out the evening’s entertainment.

—k. o’day

7-9pm, Wednesday, May 21. Duo, 297 Franklin Street. A deluxe donation (includes entry for door prize) is $60, $40 is the suggested donation, $20 student donation. (These donations are just suggestions, give whatever amount feels right.) Visit artmonastery.org for reservations.