Garibaldi-Meucci Museum Opens PICCOLE BELLE COSE 2014 Exhibition Today

Today, January 11, 2014, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum will host an artists' opening reception for "Piccole Belle Cose 2014," a show of "Small Beautiful Things" by members of IAVANET (Italian-American Visual Artists' Network). The IAVANET artists, who had their inaugural exhibition at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in 2010, will return with another diverse selection from the group's painters, sculptors, photographers, designers, and installation artists. These works, in their various media, encompass a full range of expression-from pure abstraction to representations of various aspects of the Italian and Italian-American experience, including themes of family life, religiosity, and pop culture.

Founded in 2007, the artists of IAVANET work to promote greater awareness of the works of well-known and emerging Italian-American artists, and collaborate with literary and performing artists of shared heritage on multi-media events. The organization has also established a mentoring program for young Italian-Americans who aspire to a life in the Visual Arts field, and a program to reach out to visual artists in Italy for dialogue and mutual studio exchange.

Admission is free. After the opening, "Piccole Belle Cose 2014" can be seen during regular museum hours with paid museum admission of $5, members are free through April 12, 2014. For more information call 718-442-1608.

The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum was the home of Antonio Meucci, the true inventor of the telephone, and a refuge to Giuseppe Garibaldi, the legendary hero who championed the unification of Italy. For over 50 years the museum has fulfilled its mission to preserve the legacies of these great men, and to promote understanding of the Italian-American heritage through cultural, artistic and educational programs and classes. The historic Italian landmark on Staten Island, the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum is owned by the Sons of Italy Foundation and administered by the NYSOSIA?GMM?Board of Commissioners.

Regular museum hours are 1 p.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. Admission is $5 per person, members and children under 10 are free. Call ahead for groups of 10 or more. The first floor of the museum is wheelchair accessible, but the restroom is on the second floor.