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The Signature
Sigonella Family Helps Rebuild Local Park By Contessa Larsen
A Sigonella family recently coordinated the renovation of a local playground in the nearby town of Santa Maria di Licodia. Luke and Contessa Larsen noticed that their neighborhood park in Santa Maria Di Licodia was in need of some renovations. But instead of avoiding the park altogether, they saw it as an opportunity to redesign a portion of it. After bringing the idea to Naval Air Station Sigonella’s Community Relations Director, Dr. Alberto Lunetta, it was decided to take the idea to city officials and coordinate a joint community relations project. From there, the Larsens began hosting volunteer events to give the park renewed purpose. Volunteers from Sigonella and from the town helped get the renovations across the finish line. Many reclaimed materials were used to maximize the town’s investment.
The renovations were completed and a grand opening was held on Saturday, May 4. Mayor Totò Mastroianni and Deputy Mayor Mirella Rizzo oversaw the ribboncutting ceremony, celebrating the efforts of over 400 volunteer hours. Many families from Santa Maria di Licodia came to enjoy the new playground Along with the Larsen family (left) and Deputy Mayor Mirella Rizzo equipment and listen (right), Santa Maria di Licodia Mayor Totò Mastroianni performs a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open up the renovations at a neighborhood to music provided by the Sigonella volunteer park. said Luke Larsen. “Since we’re band, “Magnetic Wood.” PCSing soon, we just really hope “It comes down to seeing an we can leave a positive impression opportunity to give back to your on Licodia and all the people that community and then taking the live there,” added Contessa. steps to make a positive change”,
"ITALIAN NEWS" cont’d from Page 8
Visions, the Technological Challenges of the Universal Genius.” The focus is movement, including inanimate flight. On view is a self-propelled cart that has been compared to an automobile. 3-D videos created by the Florentine Galileo Museum dramatically illustrate Leonardo’s. In his youth, Leonardo worked in Milan, where he painted the now much-restored “The Last Supper” on a monastery wall. Not surprisingly, Milan offers eight Leonardo exhibitions. The Ambrosiana museum offers a selection of 46 drawings by Leonardo drawn from the 1,750 in his famous Codex Atlanticus, normally seen by only a few scholars. On view at the Ambrosiana will be 130 rarely visible models of Da Vinci projects – navigation, artillery, underwater engineering – built in the 1950s on the basis of Leonardo’s drawings. On two walls are paintings and frescoes, only rarely on view, on loan from the
In nearby Civitella del Lago is an exhibition entitled “On the Traces of Genius: Maps and Cosmography in the Time of Leonardo.” The maps on view – only rarely shown to the public – include 15th Century efforts to interpret Ptolemy’s 27 world maps from the 2nd century AD. It is believed that Ptolemy influenced Leonardo, fascinated by maps and cartography, in making his own maps of hydro-engineering projects for Florence, Milan, Arezzo, and the Vatican. In Florence, his birthplace, Da Vinci is being celebrated at Palazzo Pitti with the exhibition “Leonardo, The Landscape of the Mysteries,” which includes a delightful Da Vinci drawing of the Arno River valley landscape. In the picturesque town of Sansepolcro, near Arezzo, the Museo Civico hosts the exhibition entitled “Leonardo Da Vinci:
Pinacoteca di Brera. The nearby National Museum of Science and Technology will open a three-month exhibition on July 19 called “Leonardo Da Vinci Parade.” Elsewhere in Italy, Turin offers an exceptional exhibition on Leonardo called “Designing the Future.” On view through July 14 at the Royal Museums are 13 signed works acquired by King Carlo Alberto plus the Codex on the Flight of Birds. Works on view include his celebrated self-portrait and the studies for the Battle of Anghiari. Venice’s Gallerie dell’Accademia’s theme is “Leonardo Da Vinci, Man as the Model of the World” with 25 drawings by Leonardo including the celebrated Vitruvian Man and the disputed “Madonna Litta.” And finally, Genoa’s Sant’Agostino Museum hosts works by 19 contemporary artists with works inspired by Leonardo, through May 31. The exhibit is called “Leonardesca.”
