It is often said that Florence is “where the Renaissance was born” and the city certainly lives up to this legacy. Everywhere the eye happens upon, there is an example of Renaissance artwork.

If the building you are walking past, around or through isn’t a direct result of the Renaissance, you can bet that it houses at least one example of Renaissance work.

While this is an amazing fact and a huge draw to bring people to Florence, it also raises a big question. What about contemporary artists and architects in Florence? Do they have an outlet or do they all simply create works that are reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance?

Stumbling my way through this question, I begin by asking my drawing professor if there are any contemporary art galleries in Florence. I had already been to a couple of small galleries, but both contained contemporary work by artists from other countries. Being an art professor and a studio artist working in Florence, I figure she is the one to ask.

“No, not really,” she replies in a thick Italian accent. I leave class disappointed, but still not convinced. A city can’t just stand still and constantly live in the past can it? Continuing my search for answers, I go to Casa della Creatività for the first meeting of Creative Campus, an organization that helps introduce study abroad students to local artists.

Amazing. There is a large variety of artists focusing their work on a range of mediums and topics including light, gardening, painting, film and theater. Creative Campus is embarking on a new project: they were given a space for Festival della Creatività, a festival of creativity that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. This year’s theme for the festival is “Future Cities: City of the Future, Future of the City.”

I anxiously join a group that is interested in investigating contemporary architecture (or lack thereof) in the city. We begin with a tour of contemporary architecture and I soon discover that, although it is hidden in the outskirts of the town, contemporary architecture does exist in very limited quantities around Florence. I also soon receive invitations to contemporary art shows from the other members of my group.

I discover that despite the historic focus of the city, contemporary work is happening all over the city inside the Renaissance covered walls, the key is knowing where to look.

The problem is that so many visitors to Florence come BECAUSE of the Renaissance work, but it seems that many artists are working IN SPITE of it.

While viewing a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at La Galleria dell’Accademia (the same museum that houses the famous David by Michelangelo), I see a woman glance down the hall of Mapplethorpe photographs and say “Oh, there’s nothing in here to see,” and walk by to view another of the thousands of marble statues created by someone hundreds of years ago that she’ll never remember when she returns home.

Whether or not there is a solution to this problem remains in question, but in the meantime I have to go to an opening at EX3, the new contemporary art gallery in Florence and it will take about an hour to walk there so I better get started now.

Ciao from the American in Italy.

cschoenborn@lanthorn.com