A historic 13th-century palace converted into a residence for international artists and designers. Located in Brescia, inside the evocative Palazzo Monti, launched in March 2017 by the young collector Edoardo Monti, born in 1991, it serves as an incubator of creativity and productivity, offering artists the opportunity to find inspiration and create collaborations.
The project was born in 2016 in New York, where he worked in communications for the fashion house of Stella McCartney, the famous designer who dresses the Duchess of Sussex and international celebrities. He stated in an interview, “The job didn’t satisfy me, and I suffered from not being able to actively participate in the art world, where I was already mingling with artists, curators, and gallery owners. My passion for art began through collecting, but it was precisely the American experience that consolidated and shaped it.”
This is how, in 2017, upon returning to Italy, he created an artist residency within the historic family palace, purchased in the 1950s by his grandfather and where his mother was born. “After months of research and organizing the artistic program and the project launch plan on digital platforms (especially Instagram), I independently launched the Palazzo Monti residency, without any ties to galleries, museums, or other public or private institutions.”
Decorated with late 18th-century neoclassical frescoes, Palazzo Monti offers a stimulating environment for creating contemporary art. Inside, there are 18 frescoed rooms accessible via the grand marble and stone staircase, left bare to allow guests free rein in their creative process. Many of the design works produced are the result of commissions or collaborations with local artisans.
The residency program is free and open to all international artists, who are selected anonymously by the Council, whose members work for some of New York’s most prestigious museums — including the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Jewish Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum — as well as digital platforms like Instagram (where the first open call was launched), Artsy, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Since its opening, Palazzo Monti has hosted hundreds of artists from 50 countries, working in nearly every imaginable discipline. It has welcomed solo and group exhibitions, as well as concerts, performances, dinners, and studio visits. Within the Palazzo, visitors can also see Edoardo Monti’s private collection, which includes works beyond those connected to the artists in residence.
Today, Monti is VIP Relations Manager at ArtVerona, a contemporary and modern art fair held in Verona, and he teaches a course for heritage managers at the IULM University in Milan.