History
The La Verde La Malfa Foundation – Art Park was created by the artist and collector Elena La Verde. The property consists of a hectare of parkland and a large villa on several storeys, built at the beginning of the '70s by the engineer Enzo La Malfa, husband of the founder, as a home for his family. The project took shape around the year 2000 when Elena La Verde had already introduced a series of installations into the park from her own artistic production as well as of other artists. Little by little the place was transformed from a private space into a lively cultural centre immersed in the luxurious planting of trees and shrubs of the park, with towering cypresses, maritime pines, and cedars of Lebanon. An ancient Araucaria dominates everything, while strelitzias, bougainvilleas and flowering succulents add colour to the scene in season. Over the next decade the growing foundation built up a prestigious collection of contemporary art, vintage clothes and underwear (from the late 1700s to the end of the 1800s) as well as a documentary and book fund with examples from as far back as the early 1500s.
On the death of the founder in 2012, her son Alfredo took over the presidency of the foundation, inaugurating the “Elena La Verde” exhibition hall, also used for concerts and exhibitions, and two rooms of artistic works dedicated to the themes of memory and peace. Considered to be a true open air museum, the park offers an evocative, original combination of nature and culture exalting the local flora rich in wild olives, pistachios, brooms, oaks and hackberries. The park houses many sculptures and contemporary art installations and is the seat of theatrical performances, concerts, shows and educational activities.
