CHILDREN’S CREATIVE PROJECT
presents the 38th annual
I Madonnari Street Painting Festival
at the Old Mission Santa Barbara
May 25 - 27, 2024: Memorial Day Weekend — Saturday, Sunday & Monday
Street Painting & Madonnari:
We are proud to be the first to bring this romantic Italian festival to the western hemisphere from our sister festival in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy. Produced by the Children's Creative Project, the Festival benefits our arts education programs.
The Santa Barbara I Madonnari Street Painting Festival presents the rare opportunity to view artists of all ages create street paintings ranging from classical to original images. The annual, three-day festival is held on the Memorial Day Weekend at the Old Mission Santa Barbara. Photos of past street paintings can be found online on our festival website and social media platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Santa-Barbara-I-Madonnari-Festival-125996794086931/
Instagram: @iMadonnari https://www.instagram.com/imadonnari/
Hashtags: #iMadonnari #ChalkFestivalSB #ChildrensCreativeProject
Street painting is a performance art where the drawings with time will fade due to wind and rain. Its focus on the creative process rather than the product are at the heart of the Festival and the mission of the Children’s Creative Project a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
History:
The I Madonnari Street Painting Festival is the first festival of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. It was created in 1987 by Kathy Koury, the former executive director of the Children’s Creative Project, as a fundraising event to benefit the arts education programs. Now there are more than 100 similar street painting festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Central and South America.
Ms. Koury traveled to Italy in 1986, to visit the International Street Painting Competition in the small town of Grazie di Curtatone in northern Italy near Mantova. This first international event produced by the Centro Italiano Madonnari since 1972, takes place annually in mid-August.
Street painting probably began in Italy during the 16th century and has a long tradition in cities in Western Europe. Artists began street painting by traveling to Catholic religious and folk festivals where they drew images of the Madonna using chalk on the street. These artists became known as “Madonnari” or street painters. Their images are called street paintings because when well drawn they resemble paintings. These artists lived and still live from the viewers’ coins thrown onto the street paintings in appreciation for the work.
Lorelle Miller featured artist 2023
