50th Guttuso Museum: “Tales of the artist: students at the museum”.

1st Meeting addressed to the students of the Guttuso Art School of Bagheria with

Michele Ducato.

Today 10 April 2024

The first of the ten meetings of students with artists organised as part of the calendar of initiatives to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Guttuso Museum started today.
‘Artist’s Tales: Students at the Museum’ is the educational project that sees Bagheri high schools meet one of five artists: Filly Cusenza, Francesco Domilici, Michele Ducato, Arrigo Musti and Paolo Pintacuda who have placed themselves at the disposal of the museum and the municipality to introduce the young students to the works in the museum, how they carry out their artistic profession and how they try to enthuse the students about art and the works in the Guttuso museum.
The artists and craftsmen involved range in the fields of painting, photography, cart drawing, scriptwriting, fiber.
Today it was the turn of Michele Ducato, son of Giuseppe, heir to the historic family of cart painters, in whose workshop Carlo Levi, Renato Guttuso and Ignazio Buttitta, among others, passed. Michele has continued the family tradition at his own workshop in Bagheria. Among his collaborations is one with the international luxury brand, Dolce e Gabbana, for whom he makes everything from refrigerators to furniture decorated in the style of Sicilian cart painting. The following have written about him: Repubblica, Il Giornale di Sicilia, Topolino, I love Sicily, Gattopardo, etc… Among other initiatives, he participated in the exhibition ‘L’ultima bottega’ Giuseppe and Michele Ducato carretto painters, held at the Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo in 2010.
Ducato, in the presence of the new administrative manager of the Guttuso museum, architect Silvia Bartolone, who greeted and welcomed the students and introduced the project and his curriculum by journalist Marina Mancini, explained to those present, about 40 students, the birth of the barrow decorator profession, the use that was made of the barrow, the history of barrow painting and the illustrious people who first came to his grandfather’s historic workshop in front of the museum and then to his own.
It was a piece of Bagheri history that the students listened to, also enhanced by the technical explanations of how the drawings were made. The students belonged to the Liceo artistico di Bagheria, accompanied by their teachers. Interested, they asked Ducato several questions, in the hope of one day becoming established artists,
they learnt useful information today that will form part of their cultural background.
To organise the meetings, two for each school, the Culture Department with the collaboration of the Education Department
respectively led by councillors Daniele Vella and Provvidenza Tripoli.

Tomorrow, 11 April, it will be the turn of the painter Arrigo Musti to meet the Guttuso Art School in Bagheria.

<< It was a beautiful and interesting opportunity for the museum to open its doors and for the children, who showed their participation and interest in the route,
interacting and becoming curious about every detail told about the painting of the cart and the history of the cart and the carters >> – said Michele Ducato.