Tag Archives: Italian Cultural Center

Attorney John J. Lag was enjoying the atmosphere at the Festa Pasta Vino at 24th & Oakley when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. “It was a remarkably beautiful stained-glass window with vibrant colors that caught my eye. It was an image of Bishop John Scalabrini and I just had to buy it,” Lag says. “It was being sold without provenance, without any information as to its origin or the artisan who created it, but I couldn’t pass it up. “Clearly, I couldn’t keep it at the family home and then it dawned on me. This magnificent …

The usual lunch and espresso breaks enjoyed by the director and volunteers at the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia were lively affairs. Discussions ran the gamut from current affairs and Dante, to library acquisitions and projects, to social and home life. During the pandemic, these discussions are continuing via Zoom at 2:30 p.m. each Wednesday. Espresso Break guests have included Ron Onesti, Renato Turano, Tom Dreesen and countless others, with all conversations archived for viewing on the cultural center website. To receive e-blasts announcing future guests, contact Dominic Candeloro at dominic.candeloro@gmail.com. To view past sessions, click here.

I’m ceaselessly amazed by the ingenuity and tenacity we show in the face of adversity. A half year ago, the coronavirus had us against the ropes, sending us scurrying for shelter and forcing us to cancel every blessed event we were so blithely planning. Yet here we are today, with COVID-19 still bearing down on us, back in the middle of the ring bobbing and weaving as we find ways to celebrate community and culture while keeping the pandemic at bay. For the past 16 years, a cavalcade of authors and scores of enthusiasts have gathered in the Florentine Room …

The John Cadel Art Gallery in the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia recently welcomed a model of a catapult that was designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Local artists and engineers Matthew McKee and Jonathon Boley built the catapult for exhibition at the third annual One Book, One Village series at the Arlington Heights Library in 2016. There is no record the catapult was built during da Vinci’s lifetime, but the design appeared in his notebooks. The model took 160 hours to build and is held together with dovetail joints and dowels. Casa Italia supporter and volunteer Frank Cesario purchased …

IA Literati 2018 — Casa Italia’s 14th annual celebration of local Italian-American authors — ran from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 12 in the Florentine Room of the Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park. Book sales and signings, raffles, and a meet-and-greet with the authors took place at 9:30 a.m. Authors will read from their works starting at 10 a.m. Several new authors such as Frank Cesario, Anne Marie Cina, Lee Colsant and Steve Decker took part in the event along with veteran literati Arthur Cola, Dr. Bruno Cortis, Kathy DeNicolo, Tony Romano and Adam Sedia. The moderator …

The Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia will once again offer a wide range of Italian classes for both children and adults at sites across the Chicago area. Parents can choose from exploratory classes for 5- to 7-year-olds and beginning, intermediate and advanced classes for children ages 8 to 13. Adult classes range from beginning and intermediate to advanced and advanced conversational. Private lessons for children and adults also are available. (708-345-5933) http://casaitaliachicago.net

  Casa Italia’s Person of the Year Gala brought together hundreds of well-wishers from the legal, labor and Italian-American communities to raise crucial funds for the Casa and pay tribute to attorney Louis C. Cairo. Casa Chairman Dan Corrado, Dinner Dance Chairman Giuseppe Zerillo and longtime friend Mario Manfredini set the stage for Cairo, who spoke glowingly of his firm, his family, his heritage and the Casa. A cash raffle and a rousing live auction called by Steve Corbo brought in additional funds.   http://casaitaliachicago.net                          

The Italian Cultural Center Vocal Scholarship began quietly in 1976 when Josephine LiPuma, an opera singer, music teacher and volunteer at the Italian Cultural Center, approached the Rev. August Feccia about starting a vocal competition under the name of the center. Ms. LiPuma wanted to start the scholarship as an encouragement to young students of opera. Fr. Feccia was in agreement that this would be a perfect event for the ICC. Two opera scholarships were offered to students of Italian Heritage and each year the scholarship honored a different Italian singer or composer. In 1987, Ms. LiPuma was terminally Ill …