Jane Fortune

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Jane Fortune

Jane Fortune (born 1942, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States) is an American author, journalist, and philanthropist. Many of her publications and philanthropic activities are centered on the research, restoration and exhibition of art by women in Florence, Italy.[1]

About

Dr. Jane Fortune is cultural editor of The Florentine, Tuscany’s English-language newspaper, in which she has appeared as a regular art and culture columnist since the newspaper’s founding in 2005. Her original column Mosaics (2005 – 2008), was the source of inspiration for her first guidebook spotlighting Florence’s lesser-known cultural treasures To Florence, Con Amore: 77 Ways to Love the City (The Florentine Press, 2007). The book’s second edition, reprinted three years later with 13 additional chapters, is titled To Florence, Con Amore: 90 Ways to Love the City (The Florentine Press, 2011).[2]

Fortune’s subsequent books, documentaries and essays are largely influenced by her efforts to safeguard and promote art by women artists. Her book Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence (2009) spotlights women painters in Florence and their thousands of works on display or in storage, many of which are in need of restoration.[3] This volume was followed up in 2012 by a guidebook she co-authored with Linda Falcone, which focuses specifically on where to view artworks by women artists in the public collections of Florence: Art by Women in Florence: A Guide through Five Hundred Years (The Florentine Press, 2012).[4]

Restoring art by women in Florence

In 2005, with the goal of raising awareness about the achievements of women artists and protecting their artworks, Jane Fortune founded the Italian not-for-profit organization, The Florence Committee of the National Museum for Women in the Arts.[5] In 2006, under Fortune’s leadership, The Florence Committee funded the restoration of the San Marco Museum’s Lamentation with Saints, a large-scale Renaissance painting by Suor Plautilla Nelli, Florence’s first recognized woman painter.[6] In 2008, her quest continued with the restoration of David and Bathsheba by seventeenth-century Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi.[7] Following up on these achievements but wishing to work on a broader scope, in 2009, Fortune founded the not for profit American organization (5013c), Advancing Women Artists Foundation (AWA), dedicated to researching, restoring and exhibiting art work by women artists, particularly in Florence, Italy.[8]

Service in Florence, Italy

Since Jane Fortune founded the Advancing Women Artists Foundation (AWA )in 2009, it has carried out several restoration projects focused on drawings, paintings and sculptures by women artists in Florence from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries including Dominican convent painter Suor Plautilla Nelli at the San Salvi’s Last Supper Museum,[9] eighteenth-century Florentine poet-painter Irene Parenti Duclos at the Accademia Gallery[10] and nineteenth-century French sculptor Fèlicie De Fauveau in Santa Croce and Santa Maria del Carmine.[11] The foundation also sponsors exhibitions, conference, seminars, books and documentaries to draw awareness to the achievements of historic women artists, in addition to safeguarding their work. The Foundation sponsors an honors program, “The Nelli Awards”, dedicated to recognizing modern-day women working in Florence, including women curators, artists and restorers.[12]

Complementing the AWA’s mission, in 2010, Fortune established the Jane Fortune Research Program at the Medici Archive Project in Florence for the purpose of discovering new archival documents regarding the history of women artists, the study of this material by scholars, and the mentoring of young scholars hoping to contribute to this field.[13]

Service in the United States

In 2008, with co-founder Robert Hesse, Jane Fortune established the Indianapolis City Ballet (ICB), a not for profit organization that supports ballet performances with international dancers from ballet companies around the world and master classes with these dancers in Indianapolis.

Fortune has served on several museum boards and is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. Fortune is a former member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was past chair of the board of trustees of Studio Arts Center International (SACI) in Florence.[14] She has served on the Dean’s Advisory Board at Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, Indiana and the Board of Trustees of the Medici Archive Project (Florence, Italy).[15] In Philadelphia, Fortune co-founded USArtists, an American Fine Art Show and Sale, which benefits the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[16] She is founder of the same organization’s Special Needs Program which resulted in the establishment of a Women’s Board Endowed Scholarship at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, a scholarship for persons with disabilities to attend the PAFA’s art school.[16] She is former Chairman of the Board of the Deafness Research Foundation in New York City and its volunteer President/CEO.[17]

Recognitions and awards

Due to her numerous cultural endeavors as an author and philanthropist in the United States and Italy, Fortune was recognized in 2010 with the awarding of an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Indiana University.[18] In 2007, the Indianapolis Mayor’s Advisory Council on Disabilities awarded Fortune their Accessibility Award for her commitment to furthering accessibility and inclusion to persons with disabilities. Maxwell Anderson—the Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art— nominated her for the Accessibility Award, for her leadership and financial support of the museum’s accessibility program.[19] In 2008, Dr. Fortune also received the ‘Spirit of Philanthropy Award’ from Indiana University, Purdue University (IUPUI), the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis.[20] In 2013, the documentary Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence, based on her 2009 book by the same name, was awarded a regional Emmy Award as Best Documentary in the Historical/Cultural Program Category.[21] In 2013, she was awarded the Tuscan-American Association’s Tuscan-American Prize 2013 for her outstanding contributions to the culture of Florence.[22]

Publications

  • The Restoration of Lamentation with Saints. Jane Fortune, RossellaLari and Magnolia Scudieri.2006. Arte Media Studio, Florence, Italy (Documentary - DVD).
  • To Florence, Con Amore: 77 Ways to Love the City. Jane Fortune. 2007. Florence: The Florentine Press.
  • Artemisia: The Restoration of a Masterpiece.Cristina Acidini, Jane Fortune, Lucia Meoni and Serena Padovani. 2008. Sillabe: Florence, Italy.
  • David and Bathsheba, The Restorationby Linda Falcone, Jane Fortune and Serena Padovani.2008. Art Media Studio, Florence, Italy (Documentary - DVD).
  • Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence. Jane Fortune. 2009. Florence, Italy: The Florentine Press.
  • “Continuing the Commitment: A Tribute to Suor Plautilla Nelli” by Jane Fortune in Orate Pro Pictora: Pray for the Paintress.2009. The Florentine Press, Florence, Italy.
  • To Florence, Con Amore: 90 Ways to Love the City. Jane, Fortune. 2010. Florence, Italy: The Florentine Press.
  • “Rediscovering Florence’s Native-born Female Artists” in Irene Parenti Duclos:A Work Restored—An Artist Revealed. Linda Falcone, ed. 2011. Florence: The Florentine Press.
  • Art by Women in Florence: A Guide through Five Hundred Years. Jane Fortune and Linda Falcone, 2012.Florence: The Florentine Press.
  • “Félicie de Fauveau: Artistic Passion and Political Exile”. Jane Fortune, 2013. In Santa Croce in Pink: Untold Stories of Women and their Monuments, Linda Falcone (Ed.) Florence: Artecelata, pgs. 55-58.

References

  1. ↑ "A day for discoveries". The Florentine. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  2. ↑ Kightlinger, Cathy. "NEWS07 | Indianapolis Star". indystar.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  3. ↑ Duranti, Elena. “Indiana Jane e i capolavori femminili perduti”, La Nazione, November 6, 2009. p. 8-9
  4. ↑ Lattes, Wanda.“La Advancing Women Artists Foundation scopre gli itinerari rosa tra musei e chiese: Caccia alla mano di Artemisia e delle altre artiste”, Corriere Fiorentino, October 15, 2012, p. 13
  5. ↑ "SACI Newsletter" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  6. ↑ "Brushing Off the Dust on Women’s Artworks, in Florence | Index Magazine". Magazine.harvardartmuseums.org. 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  7. ↑ Amorevole, Mora (November 28, 2008). "Mecenate e restauratrici salvano David e Betsabea", La Repubblica. p. 16. 
  8. ↑ "A space of their own". The Florentine. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  9. ↑ Amorevoli, Mara (November 2009). Plautilla: Quella Suora Dimenticata. Prima donna della Pittura. Florence: La Reppublica. 
  10. ↑ Muraca, Sonia (October 25, 2011). "Duclos torna in Accademia. Grazie agli americani". Corriere Fiorentino. Year 4 (278): 13. 
  11. ↑ Mugnaini, Olga (October 16, 2012). Cinque secoli di arte al femminile, in Santa Croce: il restauro dei bassorilievo per la Favreau. Florence, Italy: La Nazione. p. 20. 
  12. ↑ "AWA, una fondazione Usa per le donne artiste - Cultura". Stamptoscana.it. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  13. ↑ "“Artists in the Cloister” a conference on 16th-18th Century Women Artists: October 4-5, 2013". saci-art. 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  14. ↑ "An Interview with Jane Fortune". The Florentine. 2006-10-05. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  15. ↑ "Jane Fortune | The Medici Archive Project". Medici.org. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Jane Fortune". The Florentine Press. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  17. ↑ "AWAF - Advancing Women Artists Foundation". Advancingwomenartists.org. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  18. ↑ "Jane Fortune | Herron School of Art and Design". Herron.iupui.edu. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  19. ↑ "ADA restoration legislation introduced in U.S. House, Senate". In.gov. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  20. ↑ "Congratulations Jane!". The Florentine. 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  21. ↑ "‘Invisible Women’ - Grand Traverse Insider". Morning Star Publishing. 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
  22. ↑ "The Tuscan American Association Archives | CAPA World". Capaworld.capa.org. 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2014-02-07. 
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