Lolita Valderrama Savage celebrates a new exhibition in Italy Oct. 13 to Nov. 3

When nature is your muse, the world is your palette.

For decades, artist Lolita Valderrama Savage has used this creative well to capture and convey the feeling of place and space that she experiences with every stop along her artistic journey.

This international artist will present more than 60 mixed media artworks, all created during her more than 50-year artistic career, during a three-week exhibition October 12 to November 3 at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. The show, “The Journey…Life in Art through Nature,” will celebrate the sights and scenes she captured of the many different countries where she has  lived, worked, and visited, as well as honor the diversity of the people and cultures she has met along the way.

Valderrama Savage’s art has served as a passport which has taken her from her birthplace in Manila, Philippines, to vibrant cities and serene countrysides across Europe. For many years, she also lived in New York City and, eventually, in Stamford, where she now makes her home. She and her husband, Frank Savage, also spend part of the year in the Tuscany region of Italy, where its people and landscapes often inspire the scenes found in her drawings and paintings. 

While the show will highlight work created from Sweden to Stamford, Connecticut, and many other places, this exhibition is particularly focused on celebrating the “harmonious and peaceful coexistence of the different people who live, work, study, and visit the great city of Florence,” according to the artist.

“In the basic expressions and manifestations of its reality, nature awakens the simple and humble place of the human being in the expanse of the universe,” she states.

This exhibition, to be held at one of the most prestigious and historic museums in Florence, Italy, is being organized by the City of Florence in collaboration with the U.S. Consulate General in Florence, the Philippines Honorary General Consulate in Tuscany, and the Consular Corps of Florence. It is supported by diverse non-profit educational, cultural and artistic organizations both in Tuscany and the U.S. The opening reception will take place October 12 at 6 p.m. in the grand courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio. The show will be open and free to the public from October 13 to November 3.

Valderrama Savage has long used her art as a way to encourage intercultural appreciation, foster appreciation for diversity, and promote culture and creativity.

“Making art has taken me to a new level because it has allowed me to help children, promote education, and bring people together to build friendship and cultural cooperation,” she states. “I think there is an urgent need for all the arts to unite to lift the spirit of humanity while the world still suffers from the aftermath of the pandemic and other calamities.”

Valderrama Savage’s work has been showcased in many one-woman and group art shows all over the world. They stretch back to her earliest, in the 1970s, in venues such as the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy, and Galleri Origo in Stockholm, Sweden, to more recent exhibitions at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, the Medici-Riccardi Museum and the Palazzo Bastogi in Florence, and the Ayala Museum in Manila, Philippines.

Her upcoming show in Italy will incorporate oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings.

Valderrama Savage was born in the Philippines and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, the oldest Catholic University in Asia. She then received a scholarship from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study at the Accademia de Belle Arti in Florence where she received her Licenza in Pittura. Her first international group exhibition was at the Palazzo Strozzi in 1975. She also lived and exhibited in Sweden before moving to the United States in 1980.

She previously worked at the United Nations, and has continued her work in local and international organizations that offer support and education to young people and artists, as well as promote culture and the arts. She was trained to speak several languages, including English, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, French, and German. She is married to Frank Savage and is mother to Fredrik Antoine, Grace Erlinda, and Frank Alexander.

She attributes her artistic learning and discipline to her professors at UST Museum in Manila, as well as Professor Silvio Loffredo, at the Accademia in Firenze Italy. She also credits her mentor, the late Swedish artist Staffan Hallstrom.                                                                                                                          

Over the course of her career, Lolita has been honored with many awards and distinctions including the Pamana ng Pilipino award by then Philippine President Benigno Aquino, Jr., 2014; and the “A woman of influence” award (among 125 significant women in Stamford), 2011.

Community activities

She also served on boards and continues to be involved in nonprofit organizations including

The Foundation for Filipino Artists, Inc., the Ma-Yi Theater Company (New York), the Societa delle Belle Arti, Circolo  degli Artisti a Casa di Dante (Florence, Italy), the Tuscan American Association, and the Stamford Art Association.

The artist can be reached at lolitasavage@aol.com;

Visit YouTube: LolitaValderramaSavage