History of the Campigna Prize
Premio Campigna (Campigna Prize) was established in Santa Sofia in 1955 with the aim of promoting the homonymous grand-ducal forest through an event capable of capturing the most significant contemporary artistic trends while attracting a wide audience. Over time, the event has taken on various forms, evolving into a diverse artistic program that, throughout the years, has involved numerous artists, critics, art historians, and curators of both national and international relevance.
The Prize was founded by Vero Stoppioni, teacher and long-time principal of the local middle school, an eminent figure in the cultural life of Santa Sofia and beyond, together with the painter Innocente Biserni, from Santa Sofia as well.
Since its earliest editions, the group exhibitions organized for the Prize have been closely tied to the natural landscape surrounding Santa Sofia: the forest that, in the 1980s, would become the “Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona and Campigna National Park”.
In its early years, the Campigna distinguished itself for its local character, being dedicated to painters practicing the en plein air technique. Works were exhibited outdoors, hung on the trunks of fir trees in the Campigna forest or displayed along the streets of the town’s historic center. From the very beginning, the Prize generated cultural ferment, bringing citizens closer to contemporary art and fostering new connections.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Prize underwent a first transformation, involving renowned Italian art critics and historians—such as Francesco Arcangeli, Marco Valsecchi, Giuseppe Marchiori, Luigi Carluccio, and Enrico Crispolti—as members of the jury. Their presence brought a number of Italian and international artists to Santa Sofia. By the 1980s, the Prize had become a full-fledged festival (the term “prize” remaining only in name), and it embraced the return to tradition and painting with a trilogy dedicated to genres such as landscape, still life, and portrait. These exhibitions were curated by prominent figures like Renato Barilli, Claudio Spadoni, and Adriano Baccilieri, who would maintain a lasting bond with Santa Sofia.
In the same decade, artist Mattia Moreni (1920–1999), already a winner in the 1970s, returned to Santa Sofia to begin his final series: the so-called Regression of the Species and Regression of the Fine Arts Species, characterized by a representative yet gestural painting style, enriched with striking written notes. In 1985, Santa Sofia hosted a memorable retrospective dedicated to him (Mattia Moreni. The Beginning of the End of Humanism. 1970–1985), during which he donated to the Campigna Prize the monumental Mistura, a large sculpture symbolizing the end of contemporary society. Along with other works acquired over the years, it became part of the collection of the Vero Stoppioni Gallery of Contemporary Art in 1990.
A major turning point came in 1993 with the creation of the Sculpture Park, strongly supported by Renato Barilli. The Park offers a long walk through environmental sculptures and natural landscapes, beginning at the Parco della Resistenza (formerly Parco Giorgi) and following the Bidente riverbed for about two kilometers, reaching the outskirts of Capaccio. The first site-specific installation inaugurating the route was Santa Sofia ’93 by Mauro Staccioli, located in the Parco della Resistenza.
Held every autumn, the Campigna Prize continues to be a key event for both the local community and the artistic world. Today, it is pursuing an international relaunch, fostering cross-pollination between different artistic disciplines and languages, and engaging artists working across the broad spectrum of public art. The project thus becomes an opportunity to raise pressing questions related to the theme of sustainability.
