Dear All,
After enduring a challenging three-year hiatus due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to reinstate the educational trip for the winners of the Palazzo Strozzi High School Renaissance Award. The 2023 winners have returned to the United States after studying Renaissance history, culture, science, and art for four weeks, departing this past July 5th and returning on August 1st. They attended classes four days a week at the Florentine NYU Campus, Villa la Pietra, and explored museum exhibitions, institutions, historical sites, churches besides enjoying the local culture in their spare time. Additionally, they traveled on the weekends to different cities such as Milan, Rome and Venice during the Redentore celebration.
Upon their return, the students shared with us their feedback of the transformative journey. The trip was, in fact, a unique occasion not only to establish new long-lasting friendships in a foreign territory, somewhat similar to what they will experience in their college freshman year, but also to deepen their knowledge of European history. They have witnessed first-hand the Renaissance as a form of art in its birthplace and studied in depht its historical context.
As for previous years, the process involved an Advisory Committee who carefully selected the 18 students who had demonstrated the best results for the two combined required exams: the oral interview and the written Renaissance’s essay. These students come from public high schools in the under-resourced communities of New York City, Detroit, and Los Angeles. Four chaperones selected from the participating schools accompanied them. In Italy, they were welcomed and guided by a tour group leader who is an expert in Renaissance and a local art history teacher.
This reinstated summer trip award holds immeasurable value, providing these exceptional young minds with an unparalleled educational experience that will shape their futures. It stands as a testament to the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation USA’s commitment to fostering the growth and development of talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, empowering them to achieve their full potential. It represents a significant milestone for the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation USA.
In parallel to the Renaissance Award, we have worked for the past six years in partnership with the Columbia University who provides paid and unpaid internships to our selected students keen on science. This past summer, in addition to the eighteen students selected for the trip to Italy, two fellows had the opportunity to attend a paid internship at Columbia Systems Biology on Computational Approaches to cancer prognosis. Students worked collaboratively to explore and analyze high dimensional gene expression and clinical data from cancer cell lines and patient samples.
As of now, we are pleased to announce that the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation USA has started the work for the 2023 fall program and for its Award Summer Trip of 2024.
Finally, we are deeply grateful and thankful to our sponsors for their continuous generosity, our work would not be possible without them.
Sincerely,
Mario Calvo-Platero
Chairman
Palazzo Strozzi Foundation USA