Creative People in Florence
By Allyson Volpe
Combining their artistic passion, Americans Sara Amrhein and Anna Rose met ten years ago. Sara was writing her blog about the contemporary art scene in Florence while establishing her own jewellery design business, and Anna was finishing her graduate school degree and developing her art.
Realising their shared enthusiasm for developing a stronger artistic community within the city, the women established Creative People in Florence, a non-for-profit cultural association. Using their social media platform, a community of creatives began to materialise who would come together to share their mutual ideas, to exchange resources and offer a supportive community for fellow artists and designers. They organized visits to the normally obscure and unknown studios of Florentine artisans and casual aperitivo gatherings at art galleries. The happenings were always an invitation for people to introduce themselves, to exchange ideas, to discover new techniques, to share skills and form collaborations and friendships. They were the first of their kind. “Almost immediately, these events gained momentum,” Sara smiles. “For both our community and the artists and artisans themselves. This spurred on our enthusiasm even more so.”
The strong cornerstone of Creative People in Florence centres firmly upon artistic collaboration, which has become an invaluable resource for the majority of its members who not only reside in Florence but those who live internationally and seek this connection with the artistic community of Florence. Its online go-to platform is always a place of community input, solutions, connection and artistic services offered. “From the very beginning, we always stressed that our community is an exchange of both giving and receiving. How can we all help each other?” Anna explains. “When artists and designers share their skills, there is a multi-disciplinary collaboration that can be a benefit for all parties involved.”
Creative People in Florence have now gone one step further in their evolution with the recent launch of their new on-line App (Creative People in Florence, The Map) which showcases different creatives and offers direct links to their individual websites and social media accounts, and a direct map to their shops. The idea began germinating a few years ago, when they made a paper map which detailed the various in-city locations of artists and artisans in central Florence. Realising that their members mostly used their smartphones to navigate, the women moved towards on-line technology in early 2019 and began working with an App developer -- a member of the community who was doing his Master’s degree and offered to create the on-line city locations. “We wanted our community to continue to be connected and to get to know each other, so our App seemed very natural extension to give space to different creatives that spotlights their work and stories,” Anna explains.
Today, the survival of the Florentine artisans and creatives of any sort is a concern for many, and the continued loss of their tradition increasingly is becoming a travesty for the city and its culture.Deeply within their sights, the immediate goal of Creative People in Florence is more focused on helping the artisan in any way they can move beyond the events of 2020.“With the recent pandemic situation, we realised that our App was even more relevant to still keep people connected with our creative members who can share their stories in a way that gives value to their hand-made work and who offer sustainable purchases,” Sara explains.“People can still stay connected.Creatives can still find some level of support.We want to offer hope for these small businesses.”