A Visual Treat in Sciacca…read more There was a flurry of activity as I entered Michele Bono's Studio d'Arte on Piazza Campidoglio 1, yet a sense of stillness came over me. From the outset, the contrast was a bit unsettling, until I quietly thought about the relationship of his work and life. The lost identity paintings, portraits with vivid colorful shadows and wrinkles, told the tale of migrants entering Italy. Colorful wall mounted mask collages, drawings on plexiglass and cartoon-like acrylic characters marched in a parade of fictitious or perhaps personal personages. Serial displays of partially painted single-stemmed woman sculptures relentlessly sustained my attention. To share in the vision of Michael's own language and for an invigorating change from the tangle of Moorish alleyways and ceramic shops, stop at Studio d'Arte and Michele Bono's place of marvels.

From the owner: Galleria d'Arte contemporanea. Troverete oltre ai dipinti in…read morediverse tecniche e dimensioni anche le sculture in diversi materiali come vetroresina cartapesta ecc... e anche le ceramiche moderne. Tutte le opere in esposizione sono fatte a mano dall'artista Michele Bono

Fantastic selection of goods mostly made by a boyfriend/girlfriend team. There are some really…read morenice styles here, especially if you're into really interesting stones. The designs are elegantly simple, making for some very nice wearable jewelry that is less gaudy than most of the other shops we looked into. Also, if you're an instrument, there are a lot of stringed instruments (mostly guitars and ukuleles) made from recycled items like cigar boxes and wine boxes that are really cool.

Contemporary art is usually different. Unlike "modern" art, it's typically more current and can…read moresometimes be political. There wasn't that political stuff, which was nice. Paolo Madonia's art was definitely unique. He paints the pictures and then sets them on fire. I'm not kidding. The randomness of the fire scorches is art. I'm not sure what was going on with the upstairs level. I think the armoires are to be hung from the ceiling? Outside, the rock circle was interesting too. On a Sunday afternoon, I believe that I was the only person in the Museum. That was certainly nice. [Review 12845 overall, 160 of 2020.]

Gentle hike with beautiful views. I have asthma and was able to navigate easily. Plenty of posts…read morewith historical information about the landmark.

This castle was allegedly built by Roger the Norman around 1077 on pre-existing Greco-Roman-Arab…read morefortifications. The religious inscription ICNCRI dates to that period. It was also captured by geographer El Edrisi in the Twelfth Century. In 1789, the building was used as a prison. On May 14 1860, Garibaldi hoisted the tricolor flag and proclaimed Salemi "Capital of Italy" and the Garibaldi dictatorship. Damaged by the 1968 Belice earthquake, it was closed for 35 years for restoration and reopened in 2002. Full restoration completed in 2010. It is the highest point in the city. Today it is a museum and conferences are held here. When we arrived, a very nice gentleman who spoke no English (and I speak no Italian) let us in for a self-tour. Chairs were set up in the largest room for a conference and the rest was set up as an art gallery. Wonderful to look around and absolutely no handicapped accessible. [Review 12815 overall, 129 of 2020.]