I’m still curious. What is an artist visa?
Me too, I'd like to know. Is a writer considered an artist? In my world it is, but in Italy? Hummena hummena...
I think being in Italy for an extended period of time, permanently or just seasonal, is a dream for many of us on this forum. For our Chicago-based friends that we met in Salerno 3 years ago, it's a reality. He is from Rome but left in the late 1960's, married an Italian girl while working for the Bank of Italy in Chicago, and now they are retired, living in Chicago & spending winters at a rented apartment in Rome, usually 10-11 weeks worth. He has dual citizenship.
We experienced a week of it with them a year ago March, staying at our own apartment, and while yes, it was our vacation per se, we tried to assimilate where we could, doing the daily shopping, laundry, some sightseeing, riding the public trans, as much as possible to really get a vibe of Rome. It was fun, intoxicating and altogether wonderful, as I'm sure being in a small town would be as well.
Now, if I had to earn a living, or at least enough for expenses, that's a completely different kettle of fish and maybe not quite as fun. I don't think I'm there yet. I guess you could say that on my bucket list for sometime in the next 5 years would be to spend just under 90 days with my wife in a spot like Rome, off-season, rent a cheap efficiency apartment, travel inexpensively around the country when I feel like it, and get a real lay of the land. A week is one thing--3 months is quite another, but I'm certainly willing to have that experience to find out whether I'd be homesick or totally enraptured by it.