Colorfall — Manuel Marotto, Arzachena
Manuel Marotto · 2020 · Santa Lucia church stairs, Arzachena, Sardinia
Photo: Silvia Addis, taken while Colorfall was on the stairs, as published on Street Art Utopia; the camera date is not in our records. Artwork: Manuel Marotto.
Colorfall, “una cascata di colori” (a cascade of colours), poured a rainbow down the stairs of the Santa Lucia church in Arzachena, Sardinia, in July 2020. Engineer Manuel Marotto and his association from Tempio Pausania made it as the first event of the town’s 2020 summer festival, open to visitors from 25 July. It was Marotto’s second edition of the stairway, after ColorArz in 2019. Source Source Source Checked
Gone 2021: the stairs get a new installation almost every year, and by August 2021 they carried Giorgio Casu’s L’albero della vita, the town’s 2021 edition. The exact day Colorfall was taken down is not in the sources we found. Source Source Checked
💡 5 things to know
- Walking on a rainbowOlbia.it described a multicoloured wave that would let everyone feel “la meraviglia di camminare su un arcobaleno” (the wonder of walking on a rainbow). Source Reported
- An engineer and his associationLa Nuova Sardegna says the installation was devised by engineer Manuel Marotto and his association Coloart of Tempio Pausania; Olbia.it calls it a ColorArt work directed by Marotto. Source Source Checked
- A restart after lockdownColorfall opened the third Arzachena Summer Festival (25 July to 10 October 2020), which culture councillor Valentina Geromino called a sign of a restart for culture after the Covid-19 emergency. Source Reported
- Marotto’s second stairwayThe town lists two Marotto editions: ColorArz in 2019 and Colorfall in 2020, and its photo gallery captions them as separate editions (ColorArz luglio 2019, Colorfall luglio 2020). Source Source Source Checked
- A stairway that keeps changingThe first edition, by Arzachena artist Claudia Filigheddu, dates from 2016; Colorfall was the fifth, and the eleventh, for 2026, is by the Turin collective Truly Design Crew. Source Source Source Checked
📍 Where it was
On the stairway that climbs to the church of Santa Lucia in Arzachena’s old town, reached from corso Garibaldi or via Trieste. The stairs now carry a newer edition. Source Source Checked
Opens a map of the Santa Lucia stairs (position checked against OpenStreetMap); Colorfall is no longer there.
🗓️ Sightings
- 202024 Jul
First event of the summer festival · La Nuova Sardegna
- 202028 Jul
Finished stairs reported · Olbia.it
- 2020Jul
Town photo dated July 2020 · Comune di Arzachena
- 202118 Aug
Stairs now carry L’albero della vita · greenMe
- 20254 Apr
Listed as a past edition · Comune di Arzachena
- 202619 Feb
One of 10 past editions · Comune di Arzachena
Green stamps mark dated photos of the work, amber stamps mark reports and records, and red marks the work as gone. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Arzachena, la scalinata di Santa Lucia è multicolore
“Primo appuntamento in calendario è la realizzazione di “Colorfall – una cascata di colori” sulla scalinata di Santa Lucia, un’installazione artistica ideata dall’ingegnere Manuel Marotto e dalla sua associazione Coloart di Tempio Pausania.”
“The first event on the calendar is the creation of ‘Colorfall – a cascade of colours’ on the Santa Lucia stairs, an art installation devised by engineer Manuel Marotto and his association Coloart of Tempio Pausania.”
Arzachena: esplode l’arcobaleno a Santa Lucia
“E’ stata chiamata ColorFall la cascata di colori che ha pervaso la scalinata della Chiesa di Santa Lucia di Arzachena.”
“It has been named ColorFall, the cascade of colours that has flooded the stairs of the Church of Santa Lucia in Arzachena.”
L’olandese Eelco autore della Scalinata di Santa Lucia 2025 ad Arzachena
“Manuel Marotto – ColorArz 2019 e Colorfall una cascata di colori 2020”
The town’s list of every edition of the stairway: “Manuel Marotto – ColorArz 2019 and Colorfall a cascade of colours 2020.”
✅ The facts
- Title
- Colorfall – Una cascata di colori (Colorfall – A Cascade of Colours); Olbia.it writes ColorFall Source Source Source Source Checked
- Place
- Stairway of the church of Santa Lucia, old town of Arzachena, Sardinia, Italy (access from corso Garibaldi or via Trieste) Source Source Source Checked
- Occasion
- Arzachena Summer Festival 2020 (third edition), run by the Town of Arzachena; Colorfall was its first event Source Source Checked
- Association
- Coloart of Tempio Pausania according to La Nuova Sardegna; Olbia.it spells it ColorArt Source Source Reported
- Materials
- Not stated in the sources we found Unconfirmed
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- La Nuova Sardegna — Arzachena, la scalinata di Santa Lucia è multicolore — 24 July 2020
- Olbia.it — Arzachena: esplode l’arcobaleno a Santa Lucia — 28 July 2020
- greenMe — Il meraviglioso ‘Albero della Vita’ sulla scalinata di Arzachena — 18 August 2021
- Comune di Arzachena — list of all stair editions and photo gallery (Colorfall luglio 2020, ColorArz luglio 2019) — 4 April 2025
- Comune di Arzachena — press release on the eleventh edition — 19 February 2026
- Costa Smeralda — Arzachena, the Santa Lucia Stairway 2026 celebrates ‘Continuous Progress’ — 24 February 2026
- OpenStreetMap — church of Santa Lucia, corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, Arzachena (map position)
- Hero image: Silvia Addis, as published on Street Art Utopia; it matches the July 2020 Colorfall photos published by Olbia.it and the Comune di Arzachena, not the 2019 ColorArz design. A 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 7 November 2026 · How we verify art