By Janel Bladow
Joyce Acciaioli Rudge spends these days racing from her Broadway office, cell phone in hand, to Federal Hall to uncrate rare works of art, then across Lower Manhattan to the Winter Garden where cartons of handcrafted treasures are being carefully unpacked.
“It all started with a germ of an idea and grew to all this,” says the creator of Splendor of Florence, an 11-day extravaganza of food, crafts, paintings, opera, films and lectures that’s taking over downtown on September 30. Downtown landmarks such as Federal Hall, the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden and even Pace College will get will have an authentic Italian aura.
“I wanted to do a tribute to my grandparents. I saw that my grandfather was happiest on weekends when he was working with his hands. I wanted to preserve this.”
Both of her grandfathers were artisans from the Molise region between Rome and Naples. Her grandfather, Antonio Acciaioli, arrived from Florence, Italy, around 1910 where he met his wife, Antonetta, and settled into the tight Italian community around Charles Street in Providence, Rhode Island.
Her parents married and moved in with his parents until they could afford a home of their own, up the street where Rudge grew up.
“On weekends, my grandfather returned to his roots as a stonemason, building birdbaths, walls, sidewalks, fireplaces and planters. During the week when he went to work he was always so gruff but on weekends, when working with his hands, he was his happiest.”
Her fascination with her grandparents work and her Italian heritage grew as Rudge took off for Europe in the 1960s to seek her fame and fortune as a fashion model in Paris.
“I ended up going to Florence and tracking down my roots. That’s when I realized the important contribution Florentine artisans had made to the world and how dangerously close to obscurity they are.”
That’s one reason why the Florentine artists are a key component of Splendor. Eight actual artisan studios will transform the W.F.C.’s Winter Garden (220 Vesey St.) into a bustling “Piazza Florentina,” turning out works of art in stone, crystal and gold. For example, craftspeople from Gucci will create a classic 120 piece leather Gucci “Bamboo” handbag. And perfumers from Santa Maria Novella, one of the world’s oldest pharmacies and perfumeries started in 1212 by Dominican friars, will blend their famous potpourri from flowers gathered in the hills surrounding Florence.
“It will be an amazing experience and feel like a bit of Florence right here,” says Rudge. “It’s so important for people to see and appreciate these artisans’ work.”
Rudge walked the catwalks of Europe and went on to marry and settle between a home in London, a house in quaint Rhode Island and now an apartment in New York City. “I had a lot of my grandfather’s creations moved to my house. I didn’t want to lose them.”
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