Young Bee Cave artists to help create Italian sculpture honoring Texas soldiers in WWII
The Bee Cave Arts Foundation is partnering with Italian artist Franco Palmentieri for Project HOPE to honor the Texas’ 36th Infantry Division's role in World War II.
Project HOPE is an international art collaboration between Bee Cave and the city of Paestum, Italy. The Bee Cave Arts Foundation is looking for artwork submissions from Texas veterans and Bee Cave K-12 students to be featured in Italy. The selected artwork from Bee Cave, as well as the artwork of an Italian student, will be etched on a 30-foot sculpture designed by Palmentieri. Other artwork submissions will be featured on the walkway leading up to the sculpture.
“This partnership supports art, cultural exchange, and travel for local students and veterans,” the Bee Cave Art Foundation officials said in a news release. “It helps students learn and reinforce with veterans the importance the Texas military has played in securing our liberties as well as contributing to continued good will and cultural exchange between Texas and southern Italy.”
Texas’ 36th Infantry Division fought to liberate Paestum and southern Italy from the Nazi regime during WWII. The Bee Cave Arts Foundation is looking for artwork submissions that are inspired by “hope, peace, freedom, brotherhood, democracy, tolerance and inclusion,” according to its website.
The foundation was invited to participate in Project HOPE by Giorgio Cafasso, a member of Paestum's cultural committee who first envisioned the sculpture, said Ruthann Askew, a spokesperson with the foundation. While Cafasso hopes to honor all Texas veterans with the project, the foundation is working with Camp Mabry in Austin “to bring this project closer to home,” Askew said.
She said Cafasso and his team were meeting with Austin and Camp Mabry officials at the military installation and discovered the arts foundation, which was hosting a children's art gallery there.
“Bee Cave Arts Foundation is unique because it has always supported and exhibited children’s artwork year-round and has hosted several veteran art exhibitions and workshops, which were the two populations that Cafasso was looking for to permanently incorporate into the sculpture,” Askew said.
Project HOPE has 3 phases:
Phase I — November 2022 to February 2023: The foundation will accept submission of veteran and student artwork
Phase II — March 2023: The foundation will have an exhibition of all submitted artwork
Phase III — Sept. 9, 2023: The exhibition of the selected artwork in Paestum.
On March 31, 2023, a grand finale awards presentation will take place at the Bee Cave Arts Foundation at the Hill Country Galleria. The winning artists will attend an event in Paestum honoring the 80th anniversary of “Operation Avalanche,” the codename of the allied invasion of Italy during World War II, to witness the dedication and unveiling of the sculpture on Sept. 9, 2023.
The sculpture, named "Avalanche 43 — History comes from the Sea” will be permanently installed on the beach in Paestum where the Texas infantry landed in 1943.
The deadline for Bee Cave students and Texas veterans to submit artwork for Project HOPE is Feb. 27, 2023. The foundation is looking for 50 to 75 artwork submissions, Askew said. Submissions must be black and white or grey to black monochromatic, 16 by 16 inches, and in any medium. Artwork can be submitted to the foundation’s website.
Additionally, the foundation is looking for sponsorships and donations to fund the selected artists’ trip to Paestum. Interested donors can find more information at secure.qgiv.com/for/projecthope.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Young Bee Cave artists to help create Italian sculpture honoring Texas soldiers in WWII
