Arts Sojourn : Plein Air Painting in Italy
About Arts Sojourn

Upcoming Sojourns:

Arts Sojourn: The Pleasure of Painting

Now in our thirteenth year, Arts Sojourn has grown out of our love of Italy, plein air painting, the joy of vacationing with old friends, and the pleasure of meeting new ones. The Sojourn is neither a guided tour nor a traditional artists' workshop. Our goal is to create the most pleasurable and affordable vacation possible for our creative travel companions and ourselves. Our trips are impeccably planned, but we intentionally keep the dynamics of both the painting workshop and group loose to afford participants as much freedom as possible.

We believe that there are several important distinctions between Arts Sojourn and most other art/travel groups. First, we are specialists in cultural travel to Italy and we are truly expert in the areas that we bring our groups to. We can provide you with information and resources that you won’t find in the travel guides. Our goal is to help you to experience Italy first hand – not through the window of a tour bus or the eyes of a hired guide. We will help you to become a confident and capable traveler, even if it’s your first time away from home.

We make all travel arrangements ourselves without relying on consolidators or travel agents. We deal directly with the management of our favorite hotels and restaurants. We carefully consider the location, the quality of the facilities, the kitchen, dining service, and the care and demeanor of the staff. This process is a very personal one and we enjoy doing it. You will notice a difference when you travel with us.

We also consider the non-artistic needs of our Sojourners to be of equal importance when we do our planning. An Arts Sojourn is more than just painting and great scenery. Even the most dedicated painters don’t paint all day long so we take great care when we select our locations. There is always much for painters and non-painters to enjoy. Our hotels are located right in the lively historic center, yet are relaxing places to start and end your day.

And last, but certainly not least, we believe in the vision of our art workshop program. Our flexible structure never fails to attract a diverse group of artists of all levels. We have well-known professional painters who join us along with people who are just getting started and those at every level in between. Our open painting workshop format contributes to a group dynamic that we believe is unique among art/travel groups. There is no competition and no need to conform. We function as a relaxed group of friends who travel together and share a common interest. Some participants make painting a priority, some paint occasionally, and some not at all. Some artists desire input from the instructor, but many others do not. The choice is always yours, but our emphasis is always on painting for pleasure. We regularly meet as a group before dinner to casually discuss our artwork, or some related topic or our travel experiences.

If the prospect of experiencing Italy accompanied by interesting, creative people sounds enticing to you, we invite you to join us. You can browse our site to find out the details, and then simply print out the application form. Return the completed application to us along with your deposit in order to reserve your spot on our next Sojourn.

Ciao’!

Click below for information on our upcoming sojourns