Official announcement of the Foundation’s incorporation in New York State and its recognition by the US Dept. of Treasury as a 501 ( c ) (3) non profit organization. The fundamental goals of the Foundation’s mission were illustrated to a focus group of prominent members of the Italian business community and local cultural operators in the midtown area. Foremost in the mission of ICFA is the acquisition and management of this museum space, now called the Museum of Arts & Design, which is relocating in 2005, as the ideal location for a dynamic new cultural center for Italy.

The New York Times, April 14, 2002
La Nazione, May 15, 2002

ICFA celebrates its debut with a multi -sensory evocation of Marsilio Ficino’s early Renaissance banquets held at the Medici Villa at Careggi to honor Plato and his humanist philosophy, an evening conceived in collaboration with Sotheby’s Institute of Art and adapted from a new book by Carolin C.Young, Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver (Simon & Schuster, 2002). After an illustrated presentation by Ms. Young, recounting the story of Ficino’s original banquet of 1468, guests enjoyed a menu of 15th century recipes carefully adapted according to Ficino’s humoral dietary theory by food historian Cathy K. Kaufman, amid quattrocento décor and period music performed by Riccardo Marasco and the Musici di Acanto. The evening was a fitting inauguration for the ICFA, committed to fostering friendship and conviviality through Italy’s glorious culture and was acclaimed by The New Yorker as “ a memorable meal”…and by the New York Times as “…ideal soul food”.

The New Yorker, December 9, 2002
The New York Times, November 30, 2002 (1/2)
The New York Times, November 30, 2002 (2/2)