- Sarasota Chalk Festival
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Sarasota Chalk Festival is an American cultural event celebrating a sixteenth century performing art form of Italian street painting.[1] The festival is focused around the street artists who are known as Madonnari (singular form: Madonnaro) in Italy because historically, they recreated images of the Madonna. In the United States these artists are called Street Painters, Chalk Artists, Sidewalk Artists, or Pavement Artists. In Germany the title is Strassenmaie and in Great Britain the title is Sceevers. This street painting event has been held annually in downtown Sarasota on South Pineapple Avenue in the historic area known as Burns Square.[2][3]
The Sarasota Chalk Festival is produced by Avenida de Colores, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, which is a fully volunteer organization providing students with experiences and instruction in the visual and performing arts and enriching communities with cultural events. The artistic director and chair of the festival is its founder, Denise Kowal. She started the street painting festival in 2007 under the nonprofit, Burns Square Property Owners Association, an organization she has led as its president since that time.[4][5][6][7]
First international street painting festival in the U.S.
In 2010, the Sarasota Chalk Festival became the first international street painting festival in the United States of America.[8] More than 250 of the most renown street painters from all over the world participated in the event that was held October 25 through October 31.
The theme of the 2010 festival was Halloween. More than 80,000 people attended the seven-day event and in an unprecedented action prompted by the popularity of the festival, the municipal government requested extending the street closure for an additional day, through Monday, November 1, making the event last a total of eight days so that people could view the completed paintings for an additional day.[9][10] Several documentaries were created about the 2010 festival that will be released locally and in Europe.
The featured artist, Maestro Madonnaro (Vera Bugatti), and Guinness World Record holder from Germany, Edgar Mueller, created a 3-D street painting that made history as well. For the first time in history a street painting was designed to metamorphose, the image changing from day to night from a giant into a fetus in the uterus, through the use of photoluminescent paints. It measured 100’ x 40’.[11]
A second Guinness World Record holder, Leon Keer, traveled from the Netherlands to America for his first time and won third place overall for his original street painting with characters resembling Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood.[12] A third Guest artist Guinness World Record holder, Tracy Lee Stum, was featured as a guest artist from the USA. She created a two-point perspective 65’ x 30’ 3-D Mousetrap interactive game.[13] Genna Panzarella, the first woman to be awarded the Maestra Madonnaro title in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy, during its Thirtieth International Street Painting Competition, created a skeletal horse street painting in the Sarasota festival.[14] Maestro Madonnaro Vera Bugatti traveled from Italy to America for her first time in order to create her original street painting, incorporating a Batman theme.
The 2010 festival supported several secondary events held on its fringes. They included the Hallowscreen Fringe Film Festival with indoor and outdoor movies organized by executive director Lori Bowen, the France Engels Couture 60' Runway Show in cooperation with Carrianna Hutchinson, Sarasota's Largest Pumpkin Carving Contest, Performance Stage with multiple artists such as flutist Jane Hoffman and guitarist Rick Peterson, the Moving Ethose Dance Company, the West Coast Civic Ballet, the Jump Dance Company, The Garbage-Men, and the Dragonfly Café Poets.[15]
References
- ^ Lush, Jennifer (November 9, 2011). "Amazing art brings pavements to life at Sarasota Chalk Festival". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/world/sarasota-chalk-festival-brings-pavement-art-to-life/story-fn302659-1226189867523. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ^ Ball, David (October 23, 2010). "Artists to make the pavement come alive in Sarasota". Sarasota Herald Tribune. The New York Times Company. p. BN1. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101028/ARTICLE/10281004. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ Observer Staff (October 29, 2010). "Weekend Best Bet: Sarasota Chalk Festival". Your Observer.Com. The Observer Group. http://www.yourobserver.com/news/sarasota/Front-Page/102920108602/WEEKEND-BEST-BET-Sarasota-Chalk-Festival. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ Hutchinson, Bill (November 10, 2007). "Blood, toil, tears and chalk". Sarasota Herald Tribune. The New York Times Company. p. A1. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071110/NEWS/711100467?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ Weingarten, Abby (April 29, 2009). "Artists will use Pineapple Street as their canvas". Sarasota Herald Tribune. The New York Times Company. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090429/BREAKING/904299959. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ "about Denise Kowal". http://www.electkowal.com/pages/1/39/.
- ^ "Department of State Corporations". http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=N05000008143&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=BURNSSQUAREPROPERTY&names_filing_type=.
- ^ Weingarten, Abby (October 28, 2010). "Street art goes global this year". Sarasota Herald Tribune. The New York Times Company. p. E6. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101028/ARTICLE/10281004.
- ^ Newswire (November 11, 2010). "Sarasota Chalk Festival Creates Awe-Inspiring Artwork - Attracts 100,000 Visitors and Sets 2011 Dates". Newswire PR Today. http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/80895/. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- ^ Ray Collins (November 12, 2010). "Sarasota County Weekly Sarasota Chalk Festival". Sarasota County Government. http://scg.co.sarasota.fl.us/videos/20101112SCWeekly36.asx.
- ^ 20centuryfoxtrailers. "Ice Age 3 Blue-ray & DVD; Guiness World Record Pavement Art time lapse & interview". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V22THzYnUXE. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
- ^ Guinness World Records. "Largest Anamorphic Pavement Art".
- ^ Guinness World Records. "Largest Chalk Painting by one Artist".
- ^ "Mill Valley Artist Win International Competition". August 23, 2002.
- ^ Gus Mollasis (October 20, 2010). "At the Movies - Hallowscreen". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq0E4-EN630.
External links
Categories:- Pavement art
- Italian traditions
- Sarasota, Florida
- Visitor attractions in Sarasota County, Florida
- Festivals in Florida
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