Raphael Sassi Memorial Scholarship Foundation: a 501 C3

04/07/2026

7 years now that Raphael has been gone from us, and it never seems less shocking that he is gone.

10/29/2024

Raphael John Sassi (29 October 1976 to 5 April,2019). Today would have been his 48th birthday. He would have been drawing and riding his motorcycle. His brothers, Dan and Sebastian, visited his memorial marker with me at the Giribaldi vineyard in Rodello, Langhe, Italy. The plaque is at the end of a row of dolcetto grapes.

10/24/2024

10/24/2024

The empty chair at the table in Kind Light.

09/15/2024

It's the time of year to be thinking about your charitable giving and your tax deductions for 2024. Make a donation and get a sticker with Raph's famous Steve McQueen drawing (include your mailing address please with your donation!).

Donate via PayPal here: https://www.raphaelsassimemorialfund.org/support

06/16/2024

My sons and grandchildren, my friends and relatives, they have all sent me beautiful messages on this fathers' day. Additionally, I'm reaching back in time to read again pages from a diary of our late son, Raphael John Sassi. On July 11, 2001 he wrote:
"My father deserves a great drawing. The best of I've ever done. My first teacher and my last. Always."

05/31/2024

The art of RAPHAEL SASSI resides with very good company.
For one example, see the The Peterson Collection of Realistic Art. Search on the list of artists in the collection and see Raphael's name
I first met Mr. Peterson when he was visiting Raphael's studio at the New York Academy of Art in 2003. Raphael had recently finished "Allen." The drawing is graphite on paper, about 11" by 14"and since then has been in the collection.

Mr. Peterson was so impressed with Raphael's work that he commissioned him to do his portrait and that of his friend, Jon Rupp. After each posing session, Mr. Peterson photographed the progress of the work on his portrait. All the above mentioned works are in the published book of the Peterson Collection of Realistic Art.

For more information, go to The Raphael Sassi Memorial Scholarship Foundation. It's a 501(c)3 which is supporting emerging artists in their college art studies.

01/12/2024

The RAPHAEL SASSI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION: a 501c3, is proud to announce that our first grant recipient, Claire Parker is a straight A student in her second year at Pratt Institute.
Last October she was included in an exhibition of the art of Raphael Sassi at the KENT CULTURAL ALLIANCE in Chestertown, MD. (See photo).
Upcoming in March, Claire will exhibit at Heron Point, also in Chestertown. MD.

Donations to the RAPHAEL SASSI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION will help support this talented emerging artist. Here is her statement about her current work:

Claire exhibitsClaire Parker is an American artist who explores themes related to environmental sustainability in her work. She is attending Pratt Institute with a major in Drawing and a minor in Sustainability. She is also serving on the state-wide non-profit NYPIRG (New York Public
Interest Research Group) student board of directors.

Claire says,

“I legitimately started my art journey during the pandemic when I began taking studio classes through my high school. My teacher, Stephanie Zeiler, introduced me to visual journaling, where we were given a broad prompt (like ‘gratitude’) each week. This enhanced my ability to develop concepts in image-making while exploring my connection to nature. I also considered the idea of utilizing art as a vernacular for conveying social concepts that can be universally interpreted.

In my current work, I aim to offer valuable social commentary and explore how humor and satire can be used to address serious issues and engage a wide variety of audiences in meaningful discussions. Proceeding a detail-intensive piece regarding the history of American colonization and its effect on communities and the environment. I, also, recently made a commercially rendered seven-foot-tall cardboard cutout of a minotaur. The second work provoked such an incredible response from the Pratt community, it made me reflect on the efficacy of communicating through humor as a social response to serious issues, like the existential threat of climate change.

It is important to note that the value of art should not be limited solely to function as activism, but as a vehicle for universal truths we hide in the way we are culturally conditioned to think.”

07/26/2023

06/11/2023

Raphael’s dad sharing his work with a visitor.

11/29/2021

ANNOUNCEMENT: Upcoming exhibition of Raphael's works in Colorado next January, with heartfelt thanks offered to !

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01/20/2021

We are so grateful to the hundreds of people who have donated to keep the memory of Raphael alive and who have helped us to continue his legacy.