2025 marked the launch of American Friends of CASTRO Projects, a network created to extend the mission of CASTRO Projects internationally.
Through fundraising, cultural events, and partnerships with institutions across the United States, American Friends of CASTRO Projects aims to provide additional support to artists participating in the program and foster dynamic cross-Atlantic dialogue and collaboration in the arts.
Salvatore La Spada
Dr. Salvatore La Spada is an internationally recognized expert in strategic philanthropy, with extensive experience working with high-net-worth families from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He specializes in defining mission and focus, developing strategies, and designing intergenerational leadership transitions.
Gaia Di Lorenzo
Gaia Di Lorenzo is an artist and educator based in Rome. Her research focuses on collective behaviors and their role in processes of self-identification. Gaia holds a BA in Humanities and Philosophy from the University of Tor Vergata and a BA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Stella Scarpellini
Stella Scarpellini is a Director in the M&A team of UBS Investment Banking, where she has worked on transactions totaling over $20 billion over the past seven years. She holds a Master’s degree in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford and a BA in International Relations from King’s College London.
Michaela Tupini
Michaela Tupini began her career in venture capital, both in institutional and corporate firms in Silicon Valley, gaining experience in fundraising and the execution of impact investments. Michaela currently works at HSBC as Vice President of Venture Debt, providing financing solutions to some of the world’s most innovative startups.
Cheryl Calegari
A global marketing leader with over twenty years of experience growing iconic and culturally influential brands - including BEATS BY DRE (Apple), CONVERSE (Nike), TOMMY HILFIGER (PVH), and COLE HAAN - Cheryl is known for her ability to drive transformative brand growth through award-winning campaigns and high-impact collaborations across multi-billion-dollar companies.
Hussa Bint Bandar
Hussa bint Bandar, known formally as HRH Princess Hussa bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, is an artist, investor and cultural patron with over a decade of experience across London, Riyadh, New York and Washington D.C. She has trained in jewelry design at Central Saint MartinsCollege of Art & Design and built her early career in the production of luxury goods, working directly with factories and master tailors across the UK and Italy.
Vittorio Calabrese
Vittorio Calabrese is an Italian-born, New York-based cultural strategist and arts management consultant with over 15 years of experience working with museums, nonprofits, foundations, artists, heritage brands, auction houses, and galleries.
Peter d'Agostino
Peter d’Agostino is an artist and professor emeritus of film & media arts, Temple University, Philadelphia. His pioneering video, photography, and new media projects have been exhibited internationally during the past five decades in the form of installations, performances, broadcast productions, and virtual events.
Anna Silvia Tinelli
Anna Silvia Tinelli is a licensed attorney in both Italy and the United States. She is an associate at DLA Piper in New York and focuses on international tax law, advising multinational clients on cross-border transactions, regulatory compliance, and complex tax structuring strategies.
Peter d'Agostino
Peter d’Agostino is an artist and professor emeritus of film & media arts, Temple University, Philadelphia. His pioneering video, photography, and new media projects have been exhibited internationally during the past five decades in the form of installations, performances, broadcast productions, and virtual events.
Major group exhibitions are: Whitney Museum of American Art (Biennial, and The American Century - Film and Video in America, 1950-2000); São Paulo Bienal, Brazil; Gwangju Biennial, South Korea; Reading Video, Museum of Modern Art, New York; California Video, Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Under the Big Black Sun, MOCA, LA; State of Mind: New California Art Circa 1970, ICI traveling exhibition. Solo exhibitions include: Philadelphia Museum of Art; Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art; Galerie de Arte, University of Brasilia, Brazil; Red House Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria: Temple Art Gallery, Rome. Collections: The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive; Oakland Museum of California; National Gallery of Canada; LaCaixaForum, Barcelona; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium.
D'Agostino has received fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pew Trusts, Japan Foundation, Onassis Foundation, Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund, American Film Institute, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a Leonardo/Art & Climate Change award as well as Fulbright grants to Australia, Brazil and Italy. He was an artist-in-residence at the Television Laboratory at WNET/Thirteen; Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center, Italy; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada; a visiting artist fellow at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT; American Academy in Rome; National Center for SuperComputingApplications, University of Illinois; Art/Sci Center, University of California, Los Angeles.
Peter d’Agostino, born in New York City to Italian parents. His work is featured in Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art, Illuminating Video, Art & Electronic Media, Video Art, Digital Art, New Media in Art, Video Writings by Artists:1970-1990, and World-Wide-Walks/ Peter d’Agostino: Crossing Natural-Cultural-Virtual Frontiers, Intellect/University of Chicago Press (2019).
Anna Silvia Tinelli
Anna Silvia Tinelli is a licensed attorney in both Italy and the United States. She is an associate at DLA Piper in New York and focuses on international tax law, advising multinational clients on cross-border transactions, regulatory compliance, and complex tax structuring strategies.
Born and raised in Rome, Anna Silvia graduated with honors from LUISS Guido Carli University. After several years practicing as a lawyer at DLA Piper in Rome, where she worked on international corporate and tax matters, she obtained a master’s degree at Columbia Law School in New York. There, she further specialized in international
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CASTRO is funded by a group of patrons who choose to support artistic education and through a number of fundraising events.