Civitella is not just a place, it’s the people. This is a living community, a life-long place for you, an experience that lasts long beyond your residency.” “This space to think and be feels more valuable and urgently needed than ever. —Heather Ewing
February 19th, 2026 — Last night Civitella Ranieri celebrated the return of the Annual Alumni Artist Party with a gathering of 120+ past and future Fellows, Director’s Guests, friends of Civitella, and staff from Italy and New York City. The evening was marked by the familiar Civitella spirit underscoring that the residency is more than a place; it’s an ethos of care and creativity.
Emcee Pat Oleszko (CRF 2011, DG 2019) opened the evening’s program donning her hat and cape from Civitella’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Castle in 2019. She lead attendees and the staff, sporting repurposed handmade hats fitted for each member, through a Bad Bunny-inspired recitation of every country from which Fellows hail. She referred to Civitella as the “Ignited Notions of Creativity,” and said its M.O. is to be “inclusive of the arts all over the planet.” “What an amazing place, I mean the U.N. has nothing on our tiny, little place,” she concluded.
Executive Director Heather Ewing called on attendees to uphold and strengthen the ethos of care that surrounds the program as we step into Civitella’s next 30 year—to uphold “the joy and openness that infuses the human connections made and the respect given the work and the rigor with which [Fellows] pursue it.” She continued by saying, “We are living in dehumanizing times. Civitella as a space to think and be feels more valuable and urgently needed than ever. Artist residencies are too often invisible and underfunded elements of our arts ecosystem. I invite you to help us as we build a more sustainable future for the Civitellians to come. Your voices about what Civitella has made possible in your lives are more powerful than any words we can ever put together. We invite you to share that story with others and introduce us to people in your circles you think might be compelled by this mission to get involved. Our future is bright thanks to you, this community.”
“When I think about what defines Civitella as more than just a place, what makes it so transformative for so many, and what is so important for us to uphold and strengthen as we step into Civitella’s next 30 years, it’s the ethos of care that surrounds the program–the joy and openness that infuses the human connections made and the respect given the work and the rigor with which you pursue it.”
Heather ewing, executive director
Pat returned to the stage to introduce in succession Immanuel Wilkins (CRF 2025), Hernan Diaz (CRF 2025), and esperanza spalding (CRF 2018). Together, they represented Civitella’s three core disciplines—visual arts, music composition, and writing.
Hernan Diaz said, “I arrived in Italy with heavy, heavy notes from my editor. For a month I worked almost 16 to 18 hours a day. I wasn’t very sociable, but I had a good time as well and I left with a finished manuscript. It was thanks to Civitella, the inspiring setting, and the incredible people there, by which I mean, of course, my cohort which was incredible, and the staff. So I’m forever, forever grateful.”
esperanza described the table under the gazebo, where Fellows and DGs share lunch and dinner, as a “field of lushness”; when you’re catching snippets of conversations, “you feel washed by the richness of conversation around.”
The evening served as a reminder that Civitella is unbound from place and time; where there are Fellows—from the Castle years ago or just this past season—there is the spirit of Civitella, united by creativity, nourished by community and care.
Photos by A. Hoyer
Photos by Elle Pérez (CRF 2026)