Marcella Vanzo's #squola_pubblica returns to Bergamo for teacher training

Artist Marcella Vanzo (born 1973 in Milan) brings back #squola_pubblica, a participatory art project for primary school teachers, to Bergamo in 2025. Originally a digital lab for Milanese schoolchildren during the pandemic, it evolved into an artistic workshop for Pirelli Hangar Bicocca's Public Program and later a teacher training course with Pirelli Hangar Bicocca's Education Department and the University of Milano Bicocca's Department of Education. After a pilot edition in 2023 with Contemporary Locus and the University of Bergamo's Department of Human and Social Sciences, the second edition now includes the municipality of Bergamo. The project offers free training sessions to help teachers integrate contemporary art into their pedagogy, especially those in peripheral or low-urbanization areas. Vanzo notes that the pandemic forced a rethinking of teaching methods, and participatory art proved effective for interdisciplinary learning. The 2025 edition runs from March 8 to April 28, with five online meetings and one in-person session at the University of Bergamo. The team includes Vanzo, Paola Tognon, Laura Santini, Marco Boldrini (Contemporary Locus), Ilaria Castelli, Stefania Ambrosini, Margherita Fontana, Anna Chiara Mura (University of Bergamo), Giancarlo Grossi (Catholic University of Milan), and Ilaria Fusina.