The ArtePollino Award consists of a competition aimed at students of the Italian Academies of Fine Arts which includes a summer school in the Pollino National Park area and, after, the development of an artistic project inspired by the art and landscape of the Park. For three consecutive editions, the Award was recognized as an annual event and a moment of training and cultural exchange among the association, the local communities, the artistic world, and the Academies of Fine Arts.

The three editions of the Award obtained very positive results thanks to its innovative features in the Italian background of educational and training proposals linked to art and nature. Soon after the first edition, the ArtePollino association received many invitations from the Academies to meet, in the various locations, the students and to talk about the Award inviting them to participate in the following edition.

The idea of ​​addressing to the Academies, where many artists are trained, is unprecedented and original, as it aims at the exchange of ideas and the sharing among students and teachers of diverse backgrounds and experiences, starting from the observation, the exploration, and the in-depth study of the Park territory and the works of art in it. Students have the chance to be challenged by all those aspects that characterize a cultural and creative process, educating them to deal, in a conscious way, with the limits, the constraints and the difficulties that often arise; in a certain sense, mitigating the “individualistic” character of art, because it presupposes an exchange and a dialogue with the others and with the territory. This experience stands out from other artist residencies experiences because it pushes students and teachers to interact with each other, with nature and with the hosting context.

The Prize includes a residential phase, the drafting of a project proposal by each participating student, the evaluation of the works by a quality jury, the awarding of the student ranked first, the exhibition of the works and the publication of a catalogue with all the proposals, the realization of the awarded project, and the diffusion.

The 2014 edition was attended by the Academies of Fine Arts of Catanzaro, L’Aquila, Lecce, Naples, Ravenna, and Reggio Calabria. At the 2015 edition there were the Academies of Bari, Catanzaro, L’Aquila, Naples, Ravenna, Reggio Calabria and Rome. At the 2016 edition, instead, there were the Academies of Fine Arts of Bari, Florence, L’Aquila, Milan, Naples and Perugia.