{"id":14775,"date":"2026-06-22T13:00:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/?p=14775"},"modified":"2026-06-22T13:01:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:01:51","slug":"back-to-florence-one-students-mission-to-save-a-dying-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/2026\/06\/22\/back-to-florence-one-students-mission-to-save-a-dying-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to Florence: One Student\u2019s Mission to Save a Dying Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inspired by a Syracuse Florence course, graduating senior James Kuhns is building a platform to connect American tourists with the city\u2019s hidden artisans.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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James with Professor Simone Anselmi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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James Kuhns came to Florence two years ago as a study abroad student and after returning to the U.S. he couldn’t stop thinking about a leather jacket\u2014one he\u2019d watched craftspeople build from scratch at the Scuola del Cuoio. \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about that leather jacket for two years,\u201d he said. \u201cI need to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a business graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Kuhns returned to Florence in April for ten days, funded by two university grants, to interview Florentine artisans for his senior thesis. His goal was to design a digital platform that helps American tourists find and connect with the city\u2019s authentic craftspeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project traces back to Syracuse Florence where Kuhns took \u201cMade in Italy: Business, Craftsmanship, and Branding Success<\/a>\u201d with Professor Simone Anselmi\u2014a course that took students to La Marzocco espresso machine factory<\/a>, jewelers in the city center, and the leather school he still thinks about. \u201cAll of these experiences really allowed me to see into the beating heart of Florence<\/strong>,\u201d he said. \u201cThat being those artisans.\u201d<\/strong> Anselmi has stayed closely involved, helping Kuhns build connections and shape his ideas over the past five months. \u201cYou need to have an idea that art and business can be connected,\u201d Anselmi said. \u201cOtherwise, you can’t appreciate this town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Slow Dying Breath<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thesis opens with history\u2014from the guild era and the Renaissance through the fashion shows of the 1950s\u2014before arriving at an urgent present. Rising rents have pushed artisans from Florence\u2019s historic center to peripheral neighborhoods tourists rarely visit. Only 3.3% of Italy\u2019s 260,000 artisans are under 35, leaving an aging demographic with few people to inherit their craft. \u201cIt\u2019s not an overnight thing,\u201d Kuhns said. \u201cIt\u2019s like the slow dying breath.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism, paradoxically, is part of the problem. Anselmi put it bluntly: visitors arrive on short itineraries, stick to the Duomo-to-Ponte Vecchio circuit, and often leave having bought fake \u201cMade in Italy\u201d goods without ever encountering a real workshop<\/strong>. \u201cTourism is going up and the artisans are not taking any benefit,\u201d he said. Kuhns calls this the \u201cDisneyfication\u201d of Florence\u2014marketing that funnels tourists toward a handful of landmarks and away from the living city. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily the tourist\u2019s fault,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all the marketing they\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Platform<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuhns\u2019s answer is a platform\u2014part TripAdvisor, part cultural guide\u2014that would map verified, authentic artisan workshops so visitors can cut through the souvenir noise. His target is neither the day-tripper nor the ultra-wealthy collector, but the middle: curious American travelers willing to venture a few blocks off the tourist circuit.<\/strong> \u201cThose are the artisans that are suffering the most,\u201d Anselmi said. \u201cAuthentic, fantastic\u2014but struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project has already survived one pivot: an earlier idea to sell artisan goods overseas collapsed when new tariffs made it unworkable. \u201cNot everything works out the first time,\u201d Kuhns said. The pivot sharpened the focus\u2014instead of bringing Florence to Americans at home, help Americans find Florence when they\u2019re already here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When James spoke with us, he was on day two of ten, already deep in fieldwork\u2014interviewing a bag maker, cold walk-ins to workshops, connections built through Anselmi and former colleagues. \u201cI could read all the literature,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t know until I talk to them.\u201d The early conversations had confirmed his hunch: younger artisans are passionate but lack the marketing infrastructure to reach new customers. He hopes the app can fill that void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a true piece of heritage and Italian culture that is slowly dying,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we breathe some life into that?\u201d<\/strong> He had eight days of interviews still to go. And, presumably, a leather jacket to finally buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspired by a Syracuse Florence course, graduating senior James Kuhns is building a platform to connect American tourists with the city\u2019s hidden artisans. James Kuhns came to Florence two years ago as a study abroad student and after returning to the U.S. he couldn’t stop thinking about a leather jacket\u2014one he\u2019d watched craftspeople build from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":14801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14775"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14789,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14775\/revisions\/14789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suabroad.syr.edu\/florence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}