The Volterra-Detroit Foundation facilitates international cultural and artistic exchange and collaboration between the communities of Detroit and Volterra. It organizes a variety of academic programs at the International Residential College in Volterra. The Foundation works with the University of Detroit Mercy (its primary educational partner) and other educational institutions to provide students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the history, culture, and architecture of Tuscany, Italy, and Europe. The Volterra – Detroit Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public non-profit foundation, which has been created by the Alumni and Faculty of the School of Architecture University of Detroit Mercy to fund the renovation and adaptation of the building of the former Art School in Volterra (Italy) for the Volterra International Residential College. Follow to read more about the activities of the Volterra-Detroit Foundation
	This year, 2024, has been extremely busy for us at the Volterra-Detroit Foundation, and full of exciting events. We are thrilled to have returned to organize the Artist in Residence program, in collaboration with the Consulate of Italy in Detroit. This year, we are hosting Nico Lopez Bruchi from Volterra, and Hubert Massey, a famous Detroit muralist, will join us in Volterra in May and June 2025. They created a mural in Detroit Eastern Market, and their artistic collaboration will continue next year in Volterra. In October, the Foundation exhibited the work of the Digital Preservation Workshops at Autodesk University in San Diego. The exhibition also included panels presenting Wladek Fuchs’s research on Roman design methods. He also discussed his research in a Theater Talk (which you can see here). Finally, we acquired Velio Grandoli’s alabaster laboratory in Volterra, where we will continue to teach alabaster sculpture courses to our students and organize other art programs.
	In October, 2016, a small team of researchers and professionals embarked upon a journey to digitally reconstruct and preserve many of the historically significant architectural, archeological and artistic treasures of the ancient city of Volterra, Italy.  The results of this and subsequent workshops (in June, 2017; April, 2018; April 2019 and October 2022) have had great value to the team and the City of Volterra and have been recognized by nearly 40 international publications.  We are very proud that our work was one of four projects to be recognized by the prestigious American Institute of Architects Technology in Architectural Practice Innovation Awards program and has most recently been featured by National Geographic in their documentary series “Lost Treasures of Rome” in the “Secrets of the Colosseum” episode. Follow to read more about the research at the Volterra-Detroit Foundation.