Summary

The stone sculpting courses with artist Wolfgang Sandt in Umbria are not just a "normal" sculpting course, but an all-round creative and culinary experience. Relax and enjoy with all your senses while taking on the challenge of letting your own sculpture grow out of a rough block of stone. Wolfgang Sandt discusses his project with each participant before the course and prepares everything accordingly. The tools are ready and everyone can get started as soon as the course begins. He gives clear instructions and shows how to work effectively. You are also treated to delicious Italian food and don't have to worry about a thing. Stone carving and dolce vita in Italy!

For the sculpting course with Wolfgang Sandt, you don't need any previous experience, massive muscles or superhuman strength.

What you should have instead is the will to "keep at it" and a little patience.

We prefer to create sculptures from marble or limestone. These stones are well suited for sculpting. Which material is particularly suitable for your individual sculpture will be clarified together with Wolfgang Sandt in a preparatory discussion.

Your stone will be selected and prepared for you according to your individual ideas.

The stone for your sculpture, already included in the course fee, is specified with a weight of 100 kg in its raw state. This corresponds approximately to a block of marble with an edge length of 40cm x 30cm x 30cm.

However, this does not mean that your stone must have exactly these dimensions, or that it should not slightly exceed the weight of 100 kg. Consider the dimensions given above as a guide when thinking about what you want to create.

Experience has shown that you can create an impressive sculpture from a stone of this size in a week, even without any previous knowledge. With larger stones, however, the amount of work required is considerably higher.

The millennia-old culture of Umbria can provide you with inspiration during your course in La Rogaia, as can visiting works of sculpture from antiquity to the Renaissance, in museums and at archaeological sites.

Villa La Rogaia is located in the heartland of Etruscan culture. Nearby there are Etruscan tombs and museums with Roman and Etruscan works of art to visit.

We will visit at least one of these museums on a full-day excursion.

Book your vacation without risk!

In view of the special situation, we have adjusted our cancellation conditions for all bookings: If a stay cannot take place due to "force majeure" (e.g. COVID19 pandemic), e.g. if our guests are unable to travel due to travel restrictions, we will of course grant a free cancellation option up to 24 hours before the start of your stay. We will then refund your full payment.

The retreat at a glance

The most important facts in a nutshell:

Categories: Sculpting, Creative Retreats
Date: 2025-09-06 - 2025-09-13
Language(s): Italian, German, English
Level: Beginner, Expert, Advanced
Place: Castel Rigone, Italy
Accommodation: Overnight stay included
Catering: Half board
Services: Intensive sculpture lessons over 5 days

Sculpture material and stone

Accommodation in a double room

Half board

Accommodation

The price includes accommodation for 7 nights in the Agriturismo "Villa La Rogaia" in an apartment with private bathroom.

Villa La Rogaia is a family-run agriturismo (country house) surrounded by greenery in the hills above Lake Trasimeno in Umbria. Guests stay in small apartments with bathroom and kitchen or in rooms with shared bathroom for two rooms each. All accommodation has been furnished with great attention to detail and with sculptures and paintings by the artist Wolfgang Sandt. The house is surrounded by a spacious garden with a pool, and there are dreamy corners with sculptures and cozy little seating areas everywhere, from which the view sweeps over olive groves, vineyards, lavender fields and meadows.

Catering

Half board is included in the price, i.e. you are catered for and don't have to worry about anything.
A rich breakfast buffet awaits you in the morning.
In the evening, Mamma Ornella or one of our other chefs will cook for you:
Down-to-earth Umbrian and Tuscan dishes are served with ingredients from our own cultivation and from organic farms in the region. And when chef "Mamma" Ornella makes her grand entrance, with bowls of homemade pasta, the typical Umbrian torta al testo (the original Umbrian version of pizza) and all the other dishes based on traditional family recipes, the room fills not only with the aroma of delicious food, but also with all her Mediterranean temperament and infectious laughter.
On some evenings, Wolfgang Sandt will take you to typical Umbrian restaurants in the surrounding area.
This means that you can spend time with the artist not only at course times, but also during meals. If you wish, you can talk about art, ask questions and receive further suggestions and assistance for your sculptural work.

Arrival

Travel is not included.
We recommend arriving by car, we will be happy to provide you with directions.
You can also arrive by train, we will pick you up from Passignano sul Trasimeno station.

Villa La Rogaia , 06065 Castel Rigone, Umbria, Italy

Cancellation policy

Full refund up to 300 days before arrival.
If you cancel up to 30 days before arrival, you will receive a 70% refund of the booking price.
After this, the booking is non-refundable.

If you have to cancel your vacation, we will immediately try to offer your course place/accommodation to other interested parties. If no replacement can be found, we will retain the deposit of 30% if you cancel up to the 30th day before the start of the course. From the 29th day onwards, we will have to charge you 80% for board and lodging if no replacement participant/tenant can be found. In the event of cancellation from the 29th day before the start of the course, the course leaders will retain 100% of the course fee. Nevertheless, we will endeavor to find a replacement participant/renter even in the event of last-minute cancellations. If we or you are able to find a replacement participant/renter, we will refund your deposit minus a processing fee of EUR 25. If we are only able to offer your course place/accommodation at a reduced last-minute price, the difference will be at your expense.

If a course instructor is unavailable, we will take the liberty of finding an adequate replacement. If, in exceptional cases, we are unable to do so, you will receive a refund of the course fee or the total price, depending on whether you would like to come to us without a course or not. If the minimum number of participants for courses is not reached, we reserve the right to cancel a course up to 4 weeks before the start. In this case, your course fee will of course be refunded immediately. However, we are unfortunately unable to reimburse any costs for flight bookings or similar that have already been made. Unused services (e.g. early departure) cannot be refunded.