For one afternoon, Montclair became Montechiaro (Clear Mountain in Italian) at the Van Vleck House & Gardens, 21 Van Vleck St., for an event titled “From Montclair to Montechiaro: Discovering Italy in the Local Architecture.” The June 9 event began with a lecture by decorative arts historian Kathleen Bennett, and architect Frank Gerard Godlewski, and included a bus tour, and a musical performance by tenor Sandro Naglia and pianist David Witten, professor at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.

About 80 people attended the events. Teresa Fiore, the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at Montclair State University, worked for almost a year to plan and organize this event, in conjunction with Montclair’s Historic Preservation Commission. This was the first off-campus event for the department, with more lectures and concerts planned for the future.