Who We Are

We are a group of people from a variety of nationalities and cultures, who are painters, sculptors, designers, architects, performing artists, musicians, photographers, producers, and others. Though we are spread across the globe, together we are making a difference to the lives of those making the brave choice of following their passion and dedicating their career to the Arts.

LIU SHIYU

CEO and Co-founder

HIS ROLE IN TIAC

Liu Shiyu is one of the co-founders of TIAC, a visionary that has shaped TIAC since its inception. Providing connection opportunities for artists all over the world and well-rounded arts education programs are his main drivers. Liu Shiyu currently leads many TIAC projects and works to expand TIAC's outreach.

GET TO KNOW HIM

Liu Shiyu was born in Shandong province, China. Having been trained in art since childhood, he decided to move to Florence to continue his artistic career, becoming a great representational sculptor. His endless creativity and entrepreneurial spirit had him found TIAC with his artist friends to help others make their artistic dreams become true. He is passionate about travelling, food and football.

SCOTT BRETON

Co-Founder

HIS ROLE IN TIAC:

Scott came on board early in the life of TIAC as one of the cofounders. He has been part of the team developing the large ethos and direction of TIAC, working on the financial structuring and ongoing management, and specifically has been managing and working on an exciting new project to support the aims of TIAC online.

GET TO KNOW HIM:

Scott grew up on a farm in Queensland, Australia. After completing a science degree he committed fully to pursuing art, continuing a classically leaning arts education and practise begun much earlier. In 2012 Scott won the A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship, Australia’s largest national prize for developing the careers of representational artists, which allowed him to do further study with contemporary classical artists in the US and Europe. Scott now uses a range of traditional drawing, painting and sculpting media as well as digital counterparts to these, and is interested in the relationship between the modern human experience and the timeless human condition.

LYNN GUO

Co-Founder

HER ROLE IN TIAC :

As a co-founder and artist, Lynn started TIAC with a group of same-minded talented individuals who have come together to make a difference for themselves and others. The mission and goals of TIAC has been set since day one: to provide a range of services, support and opportunities to help those pursuing careers in the arts to fulfil their potentials.

GET TO KNOW HER :

Lynn was born in Inner Mongolia, in a beautiful little town near the border between China and Mongolia. Due to the impact of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and subsequent suppression of the arts, art was one of the abandoned subjects of her parents’ generation, she was encouraged to pursue a more formal education and worked in the corporate environment. Her passion for fine art developed from a very young age though it wasn’t until years later after emigrating to Australia and pursuing formal art educations and mentorships in Italy , that her attraction to art was fully explored and realised. Lynn has been working as a professional painter, art teacher & entrepreneur since then. Lynn thinks she gets the best job in the world that through working in TIAC she is able to travel and connect arts, culture, wellbeing and philanthropy, best of all is to work with the most wonderful minds all the time.

ANA BLANCO

PR & Communication Consultant

HER ROLE IN TIAC:

Ana first joined TIAC in 2017, when she worked as Communication Specialist for the Spanish Masters Workshops program. In February 2018 she moved to Florence to join TIAC team as Chief Operations Officer. Ana connects TIAC offices at the operational level, and manages TIAC Florence operations and communication. Based in Florence, she travels between offices and connects TIAC to artistic communities around the world.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Ana was born and raised in Albacete, a small city in Southeast Spain. As a kid, her dream was to travel the world to find the most beautiful place on Earth. This dream took her to study a bachelor degree in Chinese-English Translation and Interpreting at University of Granada, Spain. After graduation, she moved to Beijing, where she stayed for more than three years. In 2016 Ana was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to study a master degree in Arts Administration at the City University of New York. She is a Latin dance amateur and a foodie.

ZHANG MENG

Chief Creative Director

HIS ROLE IN TIAC:

Meng joined TIAC from the very beginning playing different roles throughout the years. His current position is Chief Creative Art Director. As one of the founders of the Turandot Art Studio, Meng travels between China and Italy frequently to straighten the bonds between the two countries. His main goal for the near future is to market the project in a successful way to guarantee its growth.

GET TO KNOW HIM:

Meng was born in Rizhao, a small town on the sea side of the East of China. As a child, he was influenced by his father who is a caligrafo. When he was 11 old he began his drawing learning process. After High-school, he moved to the north of China and to study oil painting at The Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. After University he moved to Italy to “become a real artist” and to start his own career. He enrolled at Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze to continue his studies, years during which he met Lynn Guo and Liu Shiyu. In 2013, the three artists decided to work together and created an association called ICACEA, TIAC’s predecessor.

QIN CHUAN

General Director in China

HIS ROLE IN TIAC:

Qin Chuan joined TIAC in 2016. His is currently responsible for resource development, marketing and project development TIAC ’s headquarters in China.

GET TO KNOW HIM:

Qin chuan was born in Ji'nan, Shandong, China. He was a naughty and smart child since he was a child.When he was at school, he liked scribbling on textbooks and drawing caricatures. He discovered at an early age he could find his own happiness in drawing. After school, he enrolled at China Central Academy of Fine Arts to study painting, and he insisted on doing art work after graduation. Qinchuan combines his work in TIAC and painting, which he would never give up to.

ANNIE QIU

Regional Director of TIAC Singapore

HER ROLE IN TIAC

Annie is taking charge of operations and business development of TIAC Singapore. She is an accomplished leader with big organization savvy and entrepreneurial spirit.

GET TO KNOW HER

Annie was born in Shanghai, China. She started her career as a teacher, and then worked for international companies like Microsoft and PayPal about 15 years. In recent years, her career focus has been to lead start-up companies to expand business in Asia. She is also a certified trainer of the Dale Carnegie Course in her spare time. Her wish is to facilitate people to achieve their best. Since joining TIAC, Annie found her creative spirit and professional abilities well merged, and she is passionate to contribute so much more to making art society a better place.

Wu Dihua

Turandot Art Studio Didactics Administrator

HER ROLE IN TIAC:

Dihua first joined TIAC in 2013 as a design teacher to help those who wanted to pass the admission exam of the Italian Academy of Fine Arts. Currently she is the Didactics Director of Turandot Art Studio, responsible of organizing the teachers and arranging the courses of the program.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Dihua was born in 1990 in Luoyang, an ancient city of China. She loved arts since she was a child and her dream was to become a designer. She took painting classes at primary school and at the age of 18 she moved to the Dalian city to study Interior Design and Architecture at the Dalian Polytechnic UniversityAfter she finised her studies in China, she moved to Italy to study decoration at the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts

She enjoys watching movies, playing video games, and swimming.

Zhang Haijiayi

Turandot Art Studio Operations Director

HIS ROLE IN TIAC

Leonardo first joined TIAC in 2013 as student assistant for the summer and evening workshops program. In June 2016 he officially joined TIAC team as project coordinator, and operation director of Turandot Art Studio program. He works in TIAC Florence center, but he also assist Turandot Art Studio program in China .

GET TO KNOW HIM

Leonardo was born in Qiqihaer in the north of China. He lived there until he he was 13 years old. In 2007 he moved to Beijing to study art in middle and high school. After graduating in 2012 he decided to go to Italy to study art. He studied very hard to enter in the Public Academy of Fine Art of Florence, and the same time he participated in evening workshops to expand his knowledge.

He loves cooking Chinese vegan food, nature, skiing, meditating and animals.

Zhu Cheng

Administration Director & Project Co-ordinator in China

HER ROLE IN TIAC:

Zhu Cheng first joined TIAC in January 2018 during the first edition of the Old Masters Techniques Workshop in China, where she was in charge of coordinating the staff and taking care of promotion. In the future, Zhu Cheng will be responsible for the overall preparation of the workshops in China.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Zhu Cheng was born in Hunan, China, a place where people like spicy food, and their character is very similar to chili. She moved to Shenzhen, Guangdong, at an early age for primary school. Her personality has different sides, which reflects the evolution of the environment where she grew up. When she was young, she loved art, therefore she chose to go to Central Academy of Fine Arts without hesitation where she specialized in art management.

Zhou Wei

Project Coordinator

HIS ROLE IN TIAC:

Zhou first joined TIAC in 2016. He is the project coordinator and PR of the Turandot Art Studio, and the assistant of the chief executive officer.

GET TO KNOW HIM:

Zhou was born in China in 1989 in a small city called Pingxiang. Zhou loves dogs, playing computer games and going to the gym. Before he came to Italy, he studied landscape design at Huangzhong University of science and technology. After he graduated, he worked at China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute for 5 years in Beijing and Shenzhen. However, while working there he realized that he needed more preparation. This urge for knowledge brought him to Italy to study architecture at Florence University.

Hao Xiaohui

Operations Coordinator of Turandot Art Studio in China

HER ROLE IN TIAC:

Xiaohui joined TIAC in 2018 as an academic consultant of Turandot Art Studio in China to help those who want to study in Italy. Currently she is the Operations Coordinator of Turandot Art Studio in China.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Xiaohui grew up in Cangzhou, a northern city of China. When she was sixteen years old she started studying painting. After high-school, she continued her studies on Public Art at the Academy of Fine Art in Tianjin, China. When she graduated, she still felt a thirst for knowledge, so she decided to go to Italy, a country renowned by its artistic atmosphere. Thanks to intensive Italian language study she was accepted to enrol at Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna to study Decorazione per L’Architettura. She is very passionate about art and her drive is to help students like herself to continue their artistic education.

Anna Rosa Paladino

International Office Manager

Ji Ping

Turandot Art Studio Didactics Co-ordinator

HER ROLE IN TIAC:

Ji Ping has worked as teacher in Turandot Art Studio for 4 years. She recently was promoted to join in the operation team.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Ji Ping was already a Graphic Design teacher in China before moving to Italy. She loves teaching and painting. Every day she has the habit of painting something, no matter what or at what time.

Ren Mao

Chinese Social Media Manager

HIS ROLE IN TIAC:

Ren joined TIAC in late 2017 as the Social Media Manager of TIAC’s Chinese channels. He is in charge of producing content mainly for the WeChat platform in order to keep TIAC’s Chinese audience updated. He also takes care of the video productions and photography documentation of TIAC’s events.

Get to know him:

Ren mao was born and raised in Baoding, a small city in the center of China. In 2011 he enrolled at the painting program of the Renmin University of China. In 2015 he moved to Italy to continue his studies at the Fine Arts Academy of Florence.

Linda Paoli

Chief of Administration & Turandot Art Studio Didactics Director

HER ROLE IN TIAC:

Linda joined TIAC Team 2018 as an Art History teacher. In March 2019 she became operation manager of Turandot Art Studio, managing the operations in Florence. She loves her job and because being able to follow the students at Turandot art Studio is very important for her.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Linda was born in Florence in 1987. Since the age of 13, she has always dreamed of studying at “Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze”. Linda succeeded in 2006, and started her studies there. After graduation, she worked as Technical Collaborator for teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. She likes old movies and one of her biggest passions is fashion.

Zhang Hao

Finance Officer in China

Silvia Mattioli

Accountant

Her Role in TIAC

Silvia Mattioli works for Tiac since November 2016 in the Administration Team as Accountant.

Get to Know her

Silvia was born in Florence and currently lives in Stada in Chianti, a little town in the Tuscan countryside.

She studied accounting and since 1995 has been working in the administration of several companies and associations. She loves her job.

During her free time she loves spending time with her children, taking long walks up in the Chianti hills and cooking.

Collaborators with TIAC

Jack Xiao

Educational Public Relationship Director in China