NEWS FROM : Art & Heritage  

Sixty-Thousand Sicilians were recruited to work in Louisiana's Sugar Cane fields from 1870-1920. We have started fundraising for a 12' high monument to be placed on a 4' pedestal to honor those whose shoulders we stand on. Fundraising Bricks will line the roses around the monument. Brick Prices: 4" x 8" for $200.00; 8" x 8" for $500.00; 12" x 12" f...

He was his mother’s miracle. Elvira Battafarano Greco prayed to San Francesco di Paola for a son. After five miscarriages, she promised that if her prayers were answered, she’d dress the boy like a monk every Sunday for five years. She kept her promise. Throughout his life, Sam J. Greco continued his mother’s devotion to St. Francis, the patron sai...

Comites Houston is pleased to invite you to a special event with the Consul General of Italy in Houston, Mauro Lorenzini. The appointment is scheduled for November 11th at Southern Methodist University in Dallas at 10:30 a.m. The event will open with a presentation by Comites, which will illustrate its important contribution in supporting compatrio...

Florence, Italy is over 5,600 miles away from Austin. Yet, the two cities share more in common than one would think. This fall, Austin and Florence entered into a “historic agreement” to facilitate educational, cultural and business collaborations. Cristiano Maggipinto is a diplomatic adviser to the mayor of Florence.“There were so many similaritie...

Oct. 14, 2023 through Jan. 28, 2024. Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art - 555 Elm Avenue - Norman, OK. Nestled on a hillside in the heart of Italy lies Arezzo, Norman’s sister city and home to the university’s OU in Arezzo program. The Tuscan city has been the site of creative innovation for centuries. Between 1470 and 1530, Renaissance artists in Arezzo...

On Columbus Day, Dr. Jill Biden invited approximately 250 Italian-American and Italian Leaders to the White House for a reception to honor contributions of Italian-Americans to America and Italy’s NATO and G-7 Partnerships to America. Attending from New Orleans were Charles Geno Marsala, President of the American-Italian Federation of the Southeast...

Many folks in Northwest Arkansas know that Tontitown was founded by Italian immigrants who had first come to the United States lured by promises of land and opportunity at Sunnyside Plantation in Southeast Arkansas. Conditions at Sunnyside, though, fell far short of the promises, prompting several dozen families to migrate again to an area west of...

On Thursday, Charles Marsala, President of the American-Italian Federation of the Southeast will be at the White House with 30 other national Italian-American Leaders as a guest of First Lady Jill Biden. Ms. Biden’s heritage is Sicilian from the Messina Region. For the second consecutive year, the White House’s Columbus Day Proclamation has acknowl...

ONE OF HOUSTON'S favorite personalities and businessmen — Franco Valobra, who divides time between here and New Orleans — recently celebrated a high honor in his other home state of Louisiana. He was named Louisiana’s Honorary Consul for Italy, and he threw a grand party at the new Italian Honorary Consulate in the French Quarter to celebrate. “The...

The City Council of New Orleans awarded a grant of $10,000.00 to a Committee of Fifty appointed by the mayor that purchased Winchester rifles to conduct the massacre. In 2019, Mayor Cantrell acknowledged the role the City Government of New Orleans played in the massacre and recognized the contributions of Italians to the city of New Orleans. The ev...

When most people think of Italian America, they probably think of the many famous East Coast Italian enclaves, but we've come to learn that some of the finest fruits of Italian influence in American life actually exist well off the beaten path. And few places we've visited, if any, bring the story of Italian immigration to life quite like Tontitown...

The City of Austin and Florence, Italy entered into a “historic agreement” to facilitate educational, cultural and business collaborations between the two cities, according to a city release Wednesday. The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department announced the signing of the Protocol of Cooperation Agreement. Officials noted international c...