I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival canceled
With the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty as to when the community can safely gather again, the Children’s Creative Project (CCP) made the very difficult decision to cancel the 2020 I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival scheduled for May 23-25, 2020. This annual event brings 25,000 people together to enjoy the spectacular street paintings c...
Italiano a Los Angeles prepara e consegna 100 pasti al giorno per i medici dell’ospedale: «Ho un catering: avrei dovuto chiudere, faccio la mia parte»
C’è un giovane italiano che a Los Angeles consegna 100 pasti gourmet ogni giorno agli operatori sanitari in prima linea del Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, un ospedale situato a West Hollywood. Lo fa a sue spese e con le donazioni di chi vuole dare una mano. Storie belle arrivano da Oltreoceano. Lui si chiama Emanuele Ponzo, ha 37 anni, è il fondatore...
San Diego Italian Film Festival Faces Online Challenge
San Diego Italian Film Festival held a rescheduled online Zoom meeting last night to make up for the one on Sunday that had been disrupted by uninvited attendees. The secure online discussion was lively and lasted an hour with festival organizers engaging with its members and talking about the film "Latin Lover." "Everybody was really engaged," Sai...
Paid summer internship opportunity at the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles
The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles seeks one, qualified undergraduate student, in the fields of History, Education, Social Science, or Museum Studies and other relevant areas of study, to serve as a summer intern funded by the Getty Grant Program. The majority of the internship will take place at the IAMLA’s offices in downtown Los Angeles....
Little Italy stands strong
Our vibrant community of Little Italy stands strong with the entire globe amid these challenging times. Our quiet streets are a beautiful demonstration of our solidarity and the love our community shares for one another and each other’s safety. Our rich history and resiliency since Italian tuna fisherman established Little Italy in the 1920s has st...
Two sisters were inseparable for 9 decades. Now the coronavirus lockdown keeps them apart
Since childhood, 91-year-old Corrine Casserly and her 95-year-old sister Ruth Sorney have been the closest of friends. As young women coming into their own in Hollywood in the late 1940s, they’d put on their little black dresses most Saturday nights and pretend to be rich by treating themselves to chicken a la king at Tom Breneman’s restaurant by S...
St Joseph's Tables: Expressions of Devotion, Charity and Abundance - Virtual Tour
This exhibition explores the cultural-religious tradition of St. Joseph’s Tables, which are among the richest expressions of Italian American cultural identity and embody a living tradition that has transcended ethnic lines. St. Joseph is among the most venerated saints in Christianity; he is the patron saint of immigrants, workers, unborn children...
Santa Rosa restaurateur Tony Prendusi dies at 90
Tony Prendusi ran an Italian restaurant on Santa Rosa’s Courthouse Square so long ago that the county courthouse still stood nearby. He had no problem with patrons thinking he was Italian. But the many who got to know him well and, quite likely, to adore him learned that he was in fact Albanian. And that he’d fled his beleaguered Balkan homeland af...
Joe Picarelli, popular restaurateur, dies at 65
Joe Picarelli, the Italian immigrant whose food and hospitality has been a staple of the Long Beach culinary scene for decades, passed of a heart attack at the age of 65 on Sunday, March 22. “He was a great man, brother and restaurateur,” said Councilmember Suzie Price. “He will be greatly missed, but will be remembered often, and never forgotten....
Italian Culture Lives On!
Dear Friends, in these difficult times, albeit at a distance, the Italian Cultural Institute continues to promote the beauty and richness of our cultural heritage. In this light, our newsletter will provide you with links to the many resources created by Italian cultural institutions and individual artists alike in their efforts to bring us closer...
Coronavirus Prompts Temporary Closure of the IAMLA
As a public health precaution the IAMLA is temporarily closed to the public. We will continue to provide updates via the museum's newsletter and social media. As a reminder to those staying home during this time, the IAMLA's entire permanent exhibition is available online, click here to view, and the museum also offers free educational curricula. A...
LA museum spotlights Pueblo's St. Joseph Tables
The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles is featuring an exhibition – "St. Joseph's Tables: Expressions of Devotion, Charity and Abundance" - that features Pueblo in its exploration of Italian American cultural identity in a centuries-old tradition. The exhibition, which opened last week and continues through May 17, traces the history of St. Jos...