Santa Maria della Scala unveils masterplan and exhibition program under new president Cristiano Leone

Cristiano Leone, new president of the Fondazione Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, has launched a comprehensive relaunch plan for the historic complex. The plan includes an architectural masterplan, a new visual identity, and a three-year exhibition and performance program. Four international architecture studios—Barozzi Veiga, Odile Decq, Studio LAN, and Hannes Peer—have been invited to develop a masterplan through a three-stage process starting June 17, 2024, with a competition budget of €60,000. The first exhibition, 'SOTTO/SOPRA Arte Urbana: dalla strada al museo, andata e ritorno,' curated by Patrizia Cattaneo Moresi and Michelina Simona Eremita, opens June 19, featuring over 30 artists. A Nino Migliori photography show dedicated to Jacopo della Quercia opens June 26. Future exhibitions include 'Costellazioni. Arte italiana 1915-1960' in October 2024, in collaboration with Fondazione Monte dei Paschi and Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, curated by Luca Quattrocchi, and a major retrospective on Il Vecchietta in spring 2025, curated by Giulio Dalvit of the Frick Collection. The Xenos Festival, focusing on performance, dance, and theater, will take place November 6-8, 2024, and become an annual event.