My Artist Retreat at Casa Regis
As some of my friends and colleagues may know, I am a liaison for Casa Regis: Center for Culture and Contemporary Art, Italy. I had the opportunity last fall to create my own retreat which consisted of getting to know the space, researching local villages, and museums, interspersed with hiking and having some peace and quiet to do some self-reflection. My creative means consisted of writing and photographing the area. In the text that follows, I share a description of what to expect, and a journal entry hoping to inspire others to partake in their own retreat.
Within a short walk, one will find lush trees and streams
A backyard garden nearby
Trees lining the hillside of Mosso, the vegetation is breathless.
The Location
Casa Regis, located just an hour and a half from Milan and 30 mins from Biella (UNESCO just awarded Biella the title of “Creative City”), is nestled in the small village of Mosso, which is part of the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. Mosso offers the basic needs for anyone’s stay – in the town square you can find a bakery, butcher, café and a pizzeria. It is the typical Italian village where you take a sigh and say to yourself, “This, is the real Italy.”
The center of Mosso, a charming mountain village, Casa Regis is a 15-minute walk up the way
Mosso's picturesque authentic architecture, this is a residential area footsteps from the center of the village.
Mosso is an hour and a half drive from Milan, the streets are mostly cobblestone and easy to access
The description of my stay
On October 23rd, 2019, I left my Hollywood studio and boarded a plane from (LAX) to Milan (Malpensa) airport. Once I landed at the Italian airport I was greeted by a driver that took me to Mosso. The drive was fast, most of it along the Italian motorway. The last 20 minutes of the drive were up winding roads passing through various villages. Halfway up the mountain, I arrived at Casa Emilia where Mikelle waited for me for my first night’s stay.
That next day, I par-took on a ritual I would continue each day, walking to the local water fountain to gather our day’s collection of fresh mountain water to drink. The water ritual was reflective, reminding me of how many people of today’s world collect their daily water. Then off to Casa Regis, we went, walking up the winding roads passing old farms, carriage houses, public water houses, Italian homes, and all the while following streams and forest areas with the village of Mosso below us. While walking I also saw cows and herds of goats, it seemed like every home had their own garden growing fresh vegetables and fruits. There was even a home we passed selling fresh cheese. Being October, the mist was coming and going, never really raining during my stay, but always a pleasant feeling of fresh air and fertile land around us.
One of my morning rituals, collecting fresh mountain water
While on my walk to Casa Regis I pass a variety of livestock grazing along the hillside
It seems like every other home along my walk has a garden growing fresh vegetables
After about a 10-minute walk through this mountainous area, we entered the cobblestone walkways leading to Casa Regis wherefrom north to south and east to west, one can still get a sense they are amongst farmhouses, large and small – all huddled together in a rural picturesque Italian neighborhood. Casa Regis' entrance is marked by a plaque reading, ‘Ca Regis’, an old religious wall mural, and a ground mosaic of a deer. These historical relics hark back to another time. ‘Ca Regis’ is in the local dialect, meaning the ‘house of the Regis family’. The papers of the villa date back to the 1700’s when the head of the Regis family was a philanthropic physician, offering free care to the inhabitants. Later the Regis family gifted the villa to another member of the family, known as “Mère Sophie”. She was a nun and was head of a spiritual sisterhood that lodged there every summer, offering classes in French and Latin to all local children. This location has been carrying with it for centuries a sense of community and volunteerism.
Walking into the quaint and truly historic neighborhood where Casa Regis is located, the archway to the left is the gateway of entry onto the compound
The Ca Regis plaque dating back to the 1700s
The mural on the wall from when the spiritual sisterhood inhabited the domain
Just upon entering the front gate, one will find on the ground a mosaic of a deer. This reference reminds us of the connection to the animals in the nearby woods, this area is considered as the lower Alps. It’s also important to mention, the side entrance to the building houses another mosaic symbolizing ‘water’ where the location continues to be a place to gather fresh mountain water. If you get to know some of the older residents on the lane, they will share memories visiting the building to learn Latin.
As I enter through the large iron gates, I begin to realize the vision Mikelle had when entering the compound for the first time – that it could revive itself and be an enclave that could serve as an art center and artist retreat. There was a warm welcoming feeling entering the foyer, the walls seemed to be filled with love and tales of its past residents. There is a sense of care and shelter. Each room has its own story, some with painted walls and ceilings, others with portraits of the Black Madonna or statuary of the Virgin Mary. Scenes of painted birds on the ceilings are another common theme in the building. Once Mikelle opened the turquoise shutter to each room, there was a magnificent natural light source that inhibited the space. Standing there, an awakening came to me, as if each room seemed to have a treasure trove of secrets to unveil.
Looking at the other side of Casa Regis peering into the garden and the hillside in the distance
I can only imagine what kind of life happened here in the past, a fair amount of the ceilings are marked with beautiful artwork
One of the few Black Madonna's at Casa Regis remaining from when the compound was a sisterhood. The presence of these types of artifacts is intriguing
While outside Casa Regis, life slowly passes by. I could faintly hear people walking up and down the path or from the far distance the sound of church bells from Mosso. There is just enough sound to feel you are not alone and enough non-sound to feel you are on a retreat. I had a marvelous time getting to know each room and imagine the types of creative individuals that may enter and create work. There are rooms that are perfect for a painting studio and rooms that have so much history that they could take on a narrative through photography. More still, there are rooms that would be comforting for a writer and some rooms could easily be interpreted as whimsical for a performance artist. The entire compound could be explored by a filmmaker, one idea could be to create a variety of sets. I even imagined a moveable play that could co-exist in each room where the audience would follow the performers. For myself as a researcher, I enjoyed just being and appreciating the building, meditating, and creating my own wandering interpretation, exploring each space. I marveled at the architecture from the courtyard to the attic and all the spaces in between. I took pleasure imagining what the doctor did while he lived at the villa and how the nuns conducted their time in the building.
Beautiful natural light shines into the second-floor hallway some spaces like this would be great for a writer where the view overlooks the vista
Some spaces like this would be great for a writer where the view overlooks the vista
My Summary
During my stay, I felt a natural yearning to explore its history. I experienced belonging and a life there. And then I began to envision the exhibitions I would curate and the events I would participate in resurrecting. I thought about all the artists I would invite and all the peace and enjoyment they would feel. I even thought about the appealing garden outside and the summer festivities that would happen. The on-going symbolic imagery and ground mosaics that I found at Casa Regis, reminded me of the past and the future and how these dwellings from the 18th century to this day would continue to revive themselves with the ongoing visitors that like myself would return and call it their annual artist retreat. In March 2020 I am returning to Casa Regis to do a photo story with a model. I am researching ideas to interpret the space and how I may use props to tell my story. I am playing with the idea of metamorphosis and possibly butterflies!
A view from the glorious hillside of Mosso
A page from my journal
“I heard captivating sounds from nature, walked along mythical paths, and I reveled in its surroundings. I found quiet time to explore what really called me. If I was ever short of curiosity, it would only take seconds to peer out of the window to remind myself of where I was, lodged in the Italian landscape flooded with a multitude of wonderment.”
On the way to Casa Regis, I walked along cobblestone walkways, peeked through stonewalls of stately homes and gardens that I would aspire to call my own. Some of these majestic dwellings I was even invited into and greeted with warmth and friendship. I was reminded by water rituals back home that where forgotten and I established a new love affair with the Italian light. There was no shortage of creative intrigue. I came looking for calm and found a new grounded me restored in this Italian hillside. This trip and what I saw and felt, I will always cherish. And this is only a partial description of my first, I hope among many, artist retreats at Casa Regis.”
Victoria Chapman
November 5th, 2019
Mosso, Italy
Contact me about scheduling your own artist retreat: victoria@vcprojects.art
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