Founded in 2014 by artist Greg Haji Joannides, the Sterna Art Project was inspired by Nisyros and how it can inspire the work of contemporary artists. Going through its third successful season this year, the Sterna Art Project presents several projects of varying scope, all focusing on the island and how contemporary artistic practice can respond to its particular landscape, history and culture. The main event of this year's project is Experimental Education Protocol, an exhibition curated by artist Angelo Plessas and which is the result of a residency that took place on Nisyros in July 2016. Meant to explore a new alternative education model based on joint experiential learning, the residency took place at the Baths (Loutra) of Mandraki, and it involved experimenting with each artist's notions of the experiential, as well as opening up the process to the public. The resulting exhibition will be on display at the abandoned Bath buildings until August 20th 2016.

Sterna Art Project 2016 also includes a photography showcase with a major work by Panos Kokkinias titled Nisyros, and which depicts a crowd of people standing inside the island's crater. Sterna Art Project has also announced a collaboration with Athens-based gallery Atopos cvc, which includes a residency by Russian visual artist Andrey Bogush and an exhibition of the results of his work on Nisyros in Athens in September 2016.