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- Creators: School of Art
- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
“The Power of Family in Entrepreneurship: The Story of Avanti Ristorante” is a thesis project with a dual purpose: to preserve family history, and to explore and learn from the entrepreneurial journey of the DiMarzio and Mancini families. After emigrating from Italy to the United States, these two families opened Avanti, and Italian restaurant in Cheyenne, WY. Through decades of hard work, they made immeasurable impact on their community. Their story told through the medium of an 18-minute documentary film. The film features in-depth interviews with Marisa DiMarzio, Gino DiMarzio, Roberto Mancini, and Lucia Manici, supported by photos and artifacts from their thirty year tenure as restaurateurs. Viewers of the film will glean valuable lessons about the importance of a dedication to service as the driving force behind successful entrepreneurship. The documentary can be viewed via the link in the PDF, or on the Center for Entrepreneurship YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfQhW4j8hReH6Lgeuy5hmdQ
Excavating Self was created between January and April 2023 and is comprised of two series and other additional works. It starts and ends with a set of self portraits that reflect on the experience before and after creating this body of work. The first series, On Sacrifice, draws on experiences from a previous relationship, the feelings surrounding them, and the emotional fallout of the breakup. The second series, Juntos, explores relationships with family, past and current loves, and the way these relationships shape understanding of identity. The remaining pieces focus on topics such as ancestry, gender expression, and sexuality. Other central themes include self discovery, preserving memory, and love in all of its multiple truths. All pieces were created using intaglio printmaking techniques with hand written text.