Mia Tavonatti, the founder of the Svelata Foundation, is using art and the transformative power of beauty to unveil the creative potential of humanity! With Svelata, a 501(c)(3) organization, she is determined to bridge the gap between non-artist and artist by educating society about the true nature of creativity, and by reinventing the way artists work. By exposing the creative processes of as many artists as possible, Mia hopes to demystify the “artist as magician” and make creativity available to everyone.
Svelata sponsors artists who create work powerful and positive enough to inspire and transform…giving artists forums to exhibit their creations and build recognition with the creative initiatives we produce. It is our mission to give freedom back to the artist and create innovative environments where their gifts are nurtured and celebrated.
Our artists pay their good fortune forward by becoming mentors to the students and emerging artists involved in our projects. They become the keepers of creative sparks, and provide examples for the youth in our programs to aspire to, while helping them maintain a constant connection to their dreams, and being a resource for their creative maturation. Upon graduation, these students may apply for our scholarships, and as recipients, are expected to pass it forward by recycling their good fortune back into the community with creative service.
In addition to our sponsorships, mentoring and scholarships, Svelata plans to build and improve art facilities in high schools, effectively raising the self-image and respect for “art class” beyond just being the “easy “A”! And like Mia has been doing for years, Svelata educates teachers and students about the immense opportunities in the creative fields with classroom conversations and presentations. WATCH THE VIDEO!
Our Past
Svelata originated as a series of recent oil paintings on canvas by award winning American artist Mia Tavonatti, which was unveiled for the first time at the 1600 year old Arsenale Museum in Amalfi, Italy, in 2007. Thousands of people from thirty countries experienced this exhibition, with an verwhelmingly positive reception. In 2008, Mia’s work was shown again at the 500 year old Palazzo Cesi, the former historic Lincean Academy for Alchemy in Acquasparta, Italy where Galileo Galilee studied.
After a year and a half in Italy, Mia has returned to California, and her vision for Svelata has grown into a multi-layered, multi-media foundation dedicated to the creative expansion of humanity.
Our Present
The Power of Words Project is a humanitarian mural project, and the current creative initiative being produced by the Svelata Foundation. Established artists work together with students and community members with the goal of engaging and uplifting communities while creating murals and a tapestry of conversation throughout the entire creative process.
These mural projects, and the lives of those involved in them, are being brought to the world with a series of documentaries, and videos as part of Svelata’s multi-media effort to deconstruct the myth of “artist as magician”. The cameras expose the choices, opposition, risks, sacrifices, loves and losses of these artists and reveal what it takes to create. By unveiling the creative processes of artists and our projects to the public, Svelata intends to break down the barriers between artist and non-artist and eliminate the blocks that discredit and dissolve the dreams and aspirations of so many potential creators.
Our Future
Svelata Tours and the Power of Words Project will travel the world…becoming tools for universal evolution through beauty, experience and education.
The first Svelata American Tour is a traveling art experience in custom tensile structures designed by the artist. These extraordinary fabric and aluminum nomadic spaces will be installed in cities across America and internationally. The main exhibition space houses a one-of-a-kind multi-media experience inspired by Mia’s recent collection of twenty-two original oil paintings on canvas, while two
additional structures house a youth exhibition space, a retail sales area with the trademark Svelata product line, and the Creation Station, a dynamic video zone featuring Svelata documentaries, independent video submissions, and interactive computers.
“Inside the exhibition, one is submerged in the grace and tranquility of a forest of suspended paintings that emerge slowly from and recede back into the shadows… breathing to the story and music they alone could have inspired…all with the magic of choreographed LED lighting and an original soundtrack.”
In addition to using the beauty of fine art as a vehicle for transformation, Svelata invites the interaction of each community through a series of assignments given to local university art, film, design and music majors, where students will compete for various aspects of the exhibition. They will work with Academy award winning designers, Grammy winning music producers, internationally renowned artists
and distinguished educators, as they push their boundaries to new levels and collect invaluable experience that will be seen by millions.