ONE SKY academy

In the heart of Sicily, in the historic city of Piazza Armerina,

the ONE SKY academy stands as a beacon of knowledge, art, and international collaboration.

Founded on the belief that art and knowledge can build bridges between cultures, we invite people from around the world to take part in an open, creative dialogue – fostering deeper mutual understanding and a shared, more peaceful future.

Our academy is more than an educational institution:
it is a movement that unites community, diversity, and progress under ONE SKY.

Through exhibitions, workshops, conferences, and performances, we create spaces for encounter, inspiration, and transformation.

You are warmly welcome – join us on this journey.

With kind regards
Your team at the ONE SKY academy

ONE SKY academy– the new art academy for peace, freedom, and progress – as a place of dialogue and intercultural understanding

The ONE SKY academy is an interdisciplinary academy for art and the future, located in the heart of Sicily. In Piazza Armerina – a city as vibrant as it is steeped in history, centrally positioned on the island and thus at the heart of the Mediterranean region – a unique place has been evolving since 2023: a space for exchange, cultural understanding, and processes of societal renewal – a bridge between East and West, between artistic practice and democratic responsibility.

A platform for dialogue between Europe and its neighbors
In light of global challenges, digital dilemmas, and growing social fragmentation, Europe needs new spaces for open debate, collective creativity, and shared emotional learning. ONE SKY academy sees itself as such a space – a place for artistically inspired encounters, participatory education formats, and critical discourse. In collaboration with actors from the arts, sciences, politics, and civil society, it fosters a network of diverse perspectives across countries and continents, generations and cultures.

Art as a tool of social intelligence
Central to the academy is the belief that art, as an expression of our humanity, opens up new ways of knowing, new possibilities, and potentials for transformation. ONE SKY academy combines artistic creation with social responsibility and civic courage. Through interdisciplinary formats such as workshops, symposia, exhibitions, concerts, and theater productions, it addresses themes essential to democracy and a sustainable future: freedom, justice, and universalism.

Sicily as a cultural crossroads
The location of the academy is no coincidence: Sicily lies not only at the geographic center of the Mediterranean – its turbulent history of more than a dozen foreign dominations has made the southern Italian island a melting pot of cultures. In this tradition, Piazza Armerina is becoming a modern hub for exchange between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East – a place where cultural diversity is not only reflected and promoted, but truly lived.

The Academy

The ONE SKY Academy is an independent institution for artistic and social continuing education. It offers a diverse program of interdisciplinary formats that creatively and participatively address current societal challenges.

Profile and Objectives
The academy sees itself as a platform for exchange, reflection, and collective learning. Its focus lies in connecting art, science, and civic engagement. People from diverse backgrounds and disciplines come together here to develop new perspectives and engage – both artistically and intellectually – with the central questions of our time.

Learning Culture and Methodology
At the heart of the academy is a free, non-hierarchical educational approach: learning through encounter, thinking in dialogue, researching through creative processes. Inspired by the classical ideal of the academy, the ONE SKY academy does not offer standardized degrees, but rather open spaces for individual development and collective experience.

Location and Significance
The academy is based in Piazza Armerina, Sicily – a place whose geo-cultural position in the heart of the Mediterranean makes it ideal for intercultural exchange. The region’s historical complexity reflects the openness and international spirit of the academy.

Program Focus

• Exhibitions (painting, sculpture, photography, media art)
• Workshops, labs & residencies
• Lectures, discussions & symposia
• Music, theater, performance, opera
• Educational collaborations & international projects

All offerings aim to connect artistic expression with social relevance. The academy provides space for research, artistic experimentation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Our Values
We promote critical thinking, cultural empathy, and a sense of responsible togetherness. Our work is grounded in humanistic values, open processes, and the transformative power of art.

The ONE SKY Academy is an invitation – to co-create, co-reflect, and co-feel. Under one sky. For a shared future. ONE SKY.

The History

The founding idea of the ONE SKY Academy dates back to 2014, when Frank Alva Buecheler first became involved in volunteer work for refugees in Berlin. What began as a simple neighborhood project quickly developed into a cultural meeting place featuring concerts and exhibitions. In 2015, travels to the Middle East deepened his understanding of intercultural dynamics. That same year, together with colleagues, he founded the non-profit organization FREEARTUS – artists and refugees united for freedom, which supports creatives with refugee backgrounds in building new lives. From the beginning, FREEARTUS was active in Lebanon and Syria – particularly through a long-standing collaboration with ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts) in Beirut, where European and Arab students worked together with refugees on social design projects.

To make this unique intercultural exchange visible in Germany as well, the LAWRENCE Cultural Forum was established in Berlin in 2017 – a hybrid space combining gallery, event venue, and restaurant, honored among others with the German Integration Award.

From 2021 onwards, the vision for the ONE SKY academy became increasingly concrete. Following an initial visit to Piazza Armerina in Sicily, Buecheler recognized the city’s potential.

In 2023, the ONE SKY academy for Peace, Freedom, and Progress was officially founded in Piazza Armerina.

The New ONE SKY academy is Taking Shape

Located just steps from the historic old town of Piazza Armerina, the new headquarters of the ONE SKY academy is being established within the historic walls of a former boarding school. Over the coming years, the building will undergo comprehensive renovation and architectural expansion. With sweeping views of the surrounding mountain landscape, a major new center for art, education, and cultural exchange will open its doors in 2027.

A Center for Art, Knowledge, and Society
The new location is being developed as an international center for culture and education, placing interdisciplinary dialogue between art, science, and civil society at its core. Artists, scholars, and thinkers from around the world will gather here to work, research, and exchange ideas in a calm and inspiring environment.

The facilities will offer flexible spaces for exhibitions, workshops, seminars, and events – rooted in the local context yet open to global perspectives. Special emphasis is placed on intercultural dialogue: people from different backgrounds, disciplines, and worldviews will meet on equal footing to develop new perspectives and learn from one another.

In collaboration with regional and international partners, the academy will become a platform for social and cultural innovation. Its aim is to bring creative impulses into society and promote artistic research as a means to address both global and local challenges.

Infrastructure and Spatial Concept
The academy will cover a total area of approximately 2,000 m². Planned features include:

• Multifunctional rooms for workshops, seminars, and exhibitions
• Studios for creative work
• Auditoriums for lectures, discussions, and performances
• A public café and restaurant as a social meeting point
• Open spaces for informal encounters and collaboration

A Place for Progress
Located in close proximity to the academy, the CITTÀ BIANCA resort **** is also planned – a hotel and leisure complex that will complement the site’s infrastructure. It will offer accommodations for international guests, project participants, and visitors, further strengthening Piazza Armerina as a hub for education, culture, and European dialogue in the heart of the Mediterranean.

CASA BLU | ONE SKY academy + CITTÀ BIANCA resort ****

Due to the relocation and ongoing renovation work at the new academy site, current activities are limited.

The 2025/2026 program for Berlin and Piazza Armerina (Sicily) is currently in preparation and will be published shortly.

The Founder

Frank Alva Buecheler, initiator of the ONE SKY academy – and CASA BLU / CITTÀ BIANCA resort ****,is a theater director, producer and cultural entrepreneur. He studied architecture, designed and built the Theater im Hafen / Theater in the Port in Hamburg (1650 seats), became its CEO and opened it in 1994 (today the venue for LION KING), as well as the Bremen Musical Theater (1650 seats), which opened in 1999, and finally the LAWRENCE cultural forum in Berlin Mitte in 2017.

Ten years ago, Buecheler founded the non-profit NGO FREEARTUS – artists + refugees united for freedom in Berlin together with a dozen colleagues from the creative industries. It initially focused with great success on integration work for war refugees from the Middle East and cultural exchange for young academics between Lebanon and Syria and Germany. In 2017, the LAWRENCE cultural forum was opened in Berlin Mitte. The combination of gallery, event spaces, store and large oriental restaurant created jobs for the newcomers and also quickly made a name for itself with the public in general as well as the leaders of art and politics, who always find a stimulating place for international exchange here.

Based on the experience he gained and the cultural expertise he generated, Buecheler founded the ONE SKY academy at the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sicily emerged as the ideal location for the academy, which connects three continents in the center of the Mediterranean and often divides them in inhumane ways. The politicians of the small town of Piazza Armerina, again located in the center of the island and therefore a perfect micro-location, did not want to miss out on the opportunity to retain the ONE SKY academy and offered the founder a section of the renovated former Sant’Anna monastery in the historic old town for rent in 2022.

In March 2023, a fixed-term rental agreement for the temporary use of the ex-Convento Sant’Anna was signed between the municipality and ONE SKY academy.

Organizations + Teams

ONE SKY holding SRL + ONE SKY academy management srl

Frank Alva Buecheler
CEO + President

Shareholders

• Frank Alva Buecheler
  Majority Shareholder
• Dott.ssa Danila Mancuso
  Design, Art and Science Scene in Sicily
• Avv. Antonino Minacapilli
  Legal Affairs and Contracts
• Avv. Alessia Montani
  Public Relations
• Dott. Luigi Grasso
  Business Affairs

Board of Advisors Berlin ONE SKY academy management srl

• Dr. Axel Baisch
  Fundraising and Foundations
• Dr. Maren Jasper-Winter
  Fundraising and Political Networks in Germany
• Stefan Stader
  Cooperations and Networks
• Ulrich Weigand
  Concept Development, Fundraising and Grant Applications

Advisory Board

• RA Ulrich Mizerski
  Legal and Trademark Law
• Dr. jur. Klaus Olbing
  Tax Law and Non-Profit Law
• Dott. Alvaro Placa
  Tax Advisor
• Dr. Stephan Weber
  Investor Relations

CASA BLU | ONE SKY academy Leading Team

• Dott. Pietro Roccaforte
  Executive Manager
• Maestro Will Humburg
  Artistic Director for Music and Music Theatre
• Ignazio Monaco
  Creative Consultant for the Music and Theatre Scene in Sicily
• Anas Homsi
  Curator Visual Arts

Architecture and Construction Management CASA BLU + CITTÀ BIANCA resort ****

• Johnny Lionti + Team
  Architecture and Site Management
• Anna Franca Iannello
  Architecture Expert for Sustainable Building
• Anja Pangerl BLOCHER PARTNER
  Consulting Architect

Stakeholders

• Antonino “Nino” Cammarata
  Mayor of Piazza Armerina, Sicily
• Ettore Messina
  Deputy Mayor and City Councilor for Culture and Tourism in Piazza Armerina
• Bachar Hassoun
  Managing Director of LAWRENCE Berlin Mitte and
  FREEARTUS – artists + refugees united for freedom gGmbH, Berlin