CONTEMPORARY ART IN MONTALCINO. BUT ONLY IF YOU HELP!

For once stop doling out money for cases of Brunello wine and invest into contemporary art in Tuscany instead.

Paris based artist Paul Frank Wagner has fallen in love with Montalcino (as so many of us before him). Just that he has decided to take things further. With Montalcino having it all when it comes to wine, views, food and medieval setting - the artist obviously thought Brunello town could also do with some contemporary art. And he is right.

Click through to Wagner's website to get an idea about his projects so far. Evidently a sailor in a former life, Wagner creates beautiful and intriguing sculptures with differently colored ropes. All of them include some masterful knot tying (like for an example on a boat in the midst of the Bosporus). I have to say I've been wondering why I haven't thought about it myself!

Let's rope in Montalcino too!

Paul Frank Wagner got the space and the support of Montalcino's mayor. Now he only needs our money to buy the strings. I.e. it's time for some crowd funding! Let's kick start this thing and have a bottle of Brunello together once we're looking at his new creation in September.

Find Paul Frank Wagner's website and beautiful artwork on www.artbypfw.com, or go straight to KICKSTARTER to read up about his Tie the Knot in Montalcino project.

SANT'ANTIMO ABBEY - TUSCANY'S ROMANESQUE TREASURE

Sant'Antimo abbey near Montalcino You don't have to be a catholic to remain spellbound by the eternal beauty of the Sant'Antimo abbey. The Tuscan church and monastery can turn a stubborn skeptic into a reborn spiritual. At least for the time of the visit.

SWIMMING, READING AND DINING IN BAGNO VIGNONI

Whilst the sell-out of tourist destination is a well known plague all through Italy, t here exists a tiny town in UNESCO Heritage Val d'Orcia which forgoes made in China souvenirs and just opened a bookshop instead. Bagno Vignoni is one of Tuscany's oldest tourist destinations. In fact the historic spa town has never been anything else than a tourist destination, and the ratio of inhabitants to visitors must always have been at least 1 to 10. Having looked after medieval pilgrims, ailing popes and saints ( St. Catherine of Siena used to live here for a while), Bagno Vignoni isn't tempted at all to put out plastic chairs or pizza takeaways for present day travelers. I used to live close to Bagno Vignoni and have fond memories of chasing my first -born around the town's main square which consists of a steaming hot water pool (a must-see sight for urban architects!). Our healthy mornings were usually finished off with a slice of fudge chocolate c

VAL D'ORCIA: A MAP OF THE UNESCO HERITAGE SITE

About 40 minutes south of Siena and a bit over an hour from the Tuscan coast, Val d'Orcia lies to the east of the Maremma and to the west of Montepulciano and Umbria. The UNESCO world heritage site is made up by the territories of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia (with historic spa town Bagno Vignoni ) , Pienza, Castiglione d'Orcia and Radicofani. The Orcia river crosses two more municipalities (Castel del Piano and my hometown Cinigiano ), where it divides the province of Siena from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany's two southernmost areas) before flowing into the Ombrone river. View VAL D'ORCIA MAP in a larger map

Mapping MONTALCINO

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