Museo Arzanà: Preserving the Traditional Boats of Venice

Preserving traditions and historical artifacts is the key to understanding and cherishing any culture. In Venice, it is the traditional boats that are the most important reminder of the city’s ancient connection with the sea. Since World War II and the introduction of motorboats, traditional boats have begun to disappear and are in danger of being forgotten. This project, in association with the Venetian non-profit organization Arzanà, worked towards the preservation and restoration of traditional boats. Our group created an informative brochure, and website that allows for donations, which will increase Arzanà’s ability to restore traditional boats. In addition, we were responsible for advertizing the significant amount of work that the Venice Project Center students have done, and the great impact that work has had on Venice. We produced a newsletter to bridge the gap between current and past Venice students. We also identified the logistics for the publication of the book that will compile all of the information collected over the past 20 years. We concluded our project with several recommendations on how to further benefit the city of Venice through future project work, including the organization of a 20th anniversary celebration, and the creation of an interactive website for the Venice Project Center.