Through the CCSESA network’s “Take Five for Arts Education,” Kai Tepper interviewed Santa Barbara County Education Office Superintendent Dr. Susan Salcido about the value of arts education.
There are great examples of the many ways the community can support our students, teachers, families, and schools through access to arts education. Take a moment to listen in…
By Sarah Ottoman-Sterner
Looking for something to do on Memorial Day Weekend? Check out I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival at the Old Mission Santa Barbara, May 28th - 30th. Local organizers were the first to bring this romantic Italian festival to the Western Hemisphere from Santa Barbara’s sister festival in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy. Produced by the Children’s Creative Project, the Festival benefits arts education programs. For more information visit https://ccp.sbceo.org/i-madonnari/welcome.
Source: Jennifer Goodard for Village Properties
Families with children interested in creating street art for the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival are invited to pick up free boxes of chalk at a drive-through event, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 29 at host Village Properties’ Santa Barbara office parking lot, 1436 State St.
Village Properties staff members and members of the Children’s Creative Project arts education organization will hand out 1,000 boxes of children’s chalk.
Families are encouraged to use the chalk to create their own Kids Square art pieces on their driveway or neighborhood sidewalk for the I Madonnari festival, over Memorial Day weekend, May 29-31. Photos of the Kids Squares can be posted on the festival’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
I Madonnari will be celebrated virtually again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival is traditionally held at The Mission, but this year, as in 2020, invited artists and sponsored artists will create chalk masterpieces at private locations, such as driveways and parking lots. These works, along with progress shots and time lapses, will be displayed online and visible in neighborhoods throughout the city.
The Kids Squares offer an opportunity for children and families to participate in the fun and creativity.
Last year’s online festival drew thousands of visitors from around the world to I Madonnari’s social media pages. The chalk art by professional, sponsored and child artists also brought color and beauty to driveways and sidewalks in Santa Barbara’s neighborhoods amid the dark months of the pandemic.
Festival organizers are hopeful the event can return to the Old Mission in 2022. Village Properties is a major sponsor for the festival, which is now in its 35th year.
I Madonnari serves as the main fundraiser for the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit organization that brings arts education to thousands of school children throughout Santa Barbara County through professional-led workshops and performances by multicultural touring artists.
Fundraising income has declined during the pandemic, and the organization is seeking additional donations and support to continue its work during the 2021-22 school year.
For information about the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival, including participation and sponsorship opportunities, visit https://ccp.sbceo.org/i-madonnari/welcome. To support the Children’s Creative Project go to https://ccp.sbceo.org/donate.
For information about Village Properties visit https://www.villagesite.com/ or email info@villagesite.com.
Street Painting Festival‘s featured work depicts a section of artist Miguel Covarrubias’ ‘Map of Mexico’
Source: VALERIE CANTELLA FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY EDUCATION OFFICE
May 18, 2021
The I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival will celebrate its 35th anniversary May 29-31 with an online festival made possible by the support of sponsors. Festival artists will use chalk pastels to transform their pavement canvases into elaborate and vibrant compositions in their driveways.
Online festival visitors can view the daily evolution of the street paintings at iMadonnariFestival.com, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the hashtags #IMadonnari, #ChildrensCreative Project, #ChalkFestivalSB and #KeepOnChalking.
Chalk for Kids invites children to create colorful drawings on their driveways and share their work on Instagram using the hashtag #KeepOnChalking. Through the sponsorship of Village Properties, free chalk will be distributed, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at the drive-through parking lot, corner of State and Micheltorena streets.
Veteran I Madonnari artists Sharyn Chan, Ann Hefferman and Jay Schwartz will team up again to create this year’s featured chalk work. They will recreate a section of Miguel Covarrubias’ “Map of Mexico” from Puerto Vallarta to the edge of the Yucatan Peninsula. The street painting in chalk pastel will be 40-feet-by-20-feet.
Covarrubias was a Mexican painter, illustrator, anthropologist, historian and world traveler. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance movement (1910-’30s), considered to be a golden age of African American culture expressed in literature, art, theater and music. Covarrubias died in 1957.
The map is part of the collections of the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City.
Chan, Hefferman and Schwartz collaborated last year on a 48-foot-by-12-foot depiction of Thomas Hart Benton’s “Achelous and Hercules.” The street painting image is featured on this year’s I Madonnari Festival poster.
Festival aficionados can enjoy a hint of I Madonnari at home with a poster, set of note cards, coloring book, or tote bag sold on the festival’s shop. A new festival t-shirt and 2021 poster also will be available. Each item features images from street paintings, and the funds raised support the Children’s Creative Project (CCP).
CCP is a nonprofit arts education organization administered by the Santa Barbara County Education Office. CCP serves some 50,000 students in more than 100 public schools in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Its mission is to engage all students in the creative process through visual and performing arts education and cultural experiences.
CCP collaborates with school districts, professional artists, and art organizations to ensure the arts are included in every child’s education, in every school, every grade, every day. During the pandemic, activities have been offered through virtual platforms. In pre-pandemic times, CCP provided:
» Visual and performing arts workshops conducted by resident artists during school hours for some 33,500 elementary students at 74 school sites.
» Presented 400 performances by multicultural touring companies for 44,400 children at 86 school sites.
» A $200 arts credit for each public school to help offset performance fees.
» A free performance by the Kingdom Choir from England, co-presented with Santa Barbara Bowl Outreach, for 2,500 elementary and secondary students.
The festival committee acknowledges festival sponsors including the city of Santa Barbara, Loreto Plaza Shopping Center, Yardi, Daniel and Mandy Hochman, Mosher Foundation, Santa Barbara County Education Office, and Village Properties Realtors.
To donate and learn more about the festival’s history, visit iMadonnariFestival.com. For more about I Madonnari or the Children’s Creative Project, contact Kathy Koury, 805-964-4710, ext. 4411.
Children’s Creative Project backers believe in mission to help partner scores of artists with schools throughout Santa Barbara County and beyond
By Jennifer Best, Noozhawk Contributing Writer | @NoozhawkNews
May 14, 2021 10:00 p.m.
[Noozhawk’s note: Third in a series sponsored by the Hutton Parker Foundation.]
Throngs of art enthusiasts will have the opportunity to admire locally produced street paintings in coronavirus-friendly, socially distanced style during the 35th I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festivalon May 29-31.
Artists of all ages and stages will fan out on driveways, sidewalks, and South Coast nooks and crannies to offer inspiration and raise funds for arts education across three counties.
“I Madonnari is a great cultural event that brings in potential tax dollars, money spent on local business as well as raising money for a good cause,” said Megan DeLoreto of Loreto Plaza, a family-owned business that has sponsored the event for more than 30 years.
“You’re doing a lot of things with this event while fundraising for great programs: arts education accessible to everyone in the community.”
The festival is the major annual fundraiser for Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit organization under the aegis of the Santa Barbara County Education Office, which partners 67 artists with 80 schools serving nearly 40,000 students annually in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
I Madonnari’s sponsors and participants also help provide 80 schools every year with more than 400 assembly performances by 135 different touring companies in dance, theater, music and visual arts.
Click here for more information about sponsoring street art squares, or click here to make an online donation.
“I Madonnari shows the creative process in action, shows something from the beginning to completion,” CCP executive director Kathy Koury told Noozhawk. “That’s what we’re about as an organization, sharing the creative process with children,” Koury discovered the art form in the mid-1980s when photographer Jesse Alexandershared his images from an international street painting competition in Italy.
“Street painting began in Italy in the 16th century, possibly by disabled veterans and untrained artists trying to make a living,” she explained. “They would travel from town to town to draw during Catholic religious festivals in front of the churches. People would throw down coins to express appreciation for their work.
“The artists became known as the Madonnari.”
Koury, long a volunteer in Santa Barbara schools and a founder of CCP, launched a street painting residency at Peabody School with Kurt Wenner, an artist who had practiced the art form in Italy.
After a visit in 1986 to Grazie di Curtatone to take in a competition, Koury and CCP volunteers were inspired.
“I had been looking for a fundraising event that was different from a classic car show,” Koury said. “I saw this and I knew this was it. I saw people, young and old, drawing, small and large squares, amazing work.”
Within two weeks, a neighbor knocked on her door to volunteer, and within a year, she and a small crew of volunteers designed and launched the first North American street art competition.
With the historic Santa Barbara Mission celebrating its own bicentennial, and the art form’s traditional ties with the Catholic Church, the festival’s first choice of home was clear.
“We were thinking maybe we could have an exhibit of children’s drawings of the old mission, but Father Virgil (Cordano) embraced the idea,” Koury recalled. “The old parking lot was like gravel, but within 15 minutes, it was decided: they’d repave the parking lot.”
Francis “Sissy” and James DeLoreto were among the early sponsors of the event. They were proud Italians, their granddaughter, Megan, said, and true believers in providing arts education to all.
“It was unique at the time, and our family felt it was important to have arts in the community and schools,” Megan DeLoreto said.
Over the following decades, the little festival in a church parking lot blossomed into I Madonnari, a beloved event that draws artists to create under the watchful eye of thousands of wandering visitors. It expanded into sister events in San Luis Obispo and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and more than 200 communities have adopted their own version of the fundraiser across the United States.
“Santa Barbara has a lot of events, and they’re all wonderful, but I Madonnari was the one I loved the most,” said Barbara LaCorte, a CCP board member. “It’s such a celebration of community and creativity. It brought together local businesses, artists, sponsors, schools, family — a real celebration of Santa Barbara.
“And on mission grounds, what a wonderful place to put on a festival!”
When COVID-19 stood the world on its ear in 2020, I Madonnari went “underground.” The team of featured artists created their 12-foot-by-48-foot work within the confines of the Santa Barbara Bowl, and only news media members were provided access to share images of the sponsored piece with the world.
“We lost not only the ability to share that creative process with thousands of visitors, but a major fundraising opportunity through our Italian market,” Koury said.
“There were no sales of food or our specialty items, which typically brings us about $30,000 to use toward arts programs in schools.”
A year later, COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifting, but I Madonnari organizers decided not to bank on full opening. Instead, just as they always have, Koury, her staff and a hard-working, loyal band of volunteers have rolled with the punches.
This year’s I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival will go virtual this Memorial Day.
New street paintings drawn with chalk pastels will be created by artists on their driveways for festival sponsors throughout the weekend. Photos of sponsored street paintings with sponsors’ names will be posted each day on the festival’s website, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Sponsored street paintings will remain on the website until next year’s festival.
“Sponsorship has never been about exposure for us,” DeLoreto said. “The longevity of this event and the importance of keeping arts in schools when schools’ budgets are constantly cut, that’s what continues to be important to our family.
“It just takes one teacher and one subject to keep a kid in school. There’s so much more appeal when it’s music or science or other activities than the three Rs.”
While fans will have to wait another year to pick up street-side gelato, Italian sausages, sodas and more, they can log on to the festival store to purchase festival-inspired merchandise. Among the wares are face masks featuring works from prior festivals, notecards, posters, T-shirts, tote bags and aprons.
“I’m feeling tremendous hope for the future,” LaCorte said. “It seems like things are getting better with the pandemic and everything seems to be a little more bright right now.”
Click here for more information about the Children’s Creative Project. Click here to make an online donation, or click here to sponsor street art squares for the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival.
By Jennifer Best, Noozhawk Contributing Writer | @NoozhawkNews
May 7, 2021 7:17 p.m.
Artist: Meredith Morin for Forms + Surfaces
[Noozhawk’s note: Second in a series sponsored by the Hutton Parker Foundation. Click here for the first article.]
Teaching arts, participating in arts, performing, creating and displaying arts all traditionally are immersive experiences.
COVID-19 pandemic-induced social distancing, sheltering in place, school closures and venue lockdowns changed the game for more than a year, and the Children’s Creative Project was there to help.
“Carpinteria carried on, and kudos to them,” Kathy Koury, executive director of the nonprofit Children’s Creative Project and founder of the renowned I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival, told Noozhawk.
“Artists are teaching through our program largely through distance learning, and teachers in many districts, with all they have to juggle, have integrated the lessons in this new model.”
During the course of nearly 50 years, and through one global pandemic, the Children’s Creative Project has grown to provide arts experiences, collaborations and education to thousands of students in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
It brought street painting to North America, artists to underserved students, performers to throngs of wiggly children.
And as its 35th annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival prepares for a coronavirus-friendly virtual iteration later this month, the staff is forging ahead with eyes on post-pandemic arts education for all.
“This year, we adapted our in-person assembly performances to be virtual,” Koury explained.
“We went back to our more than 100 touring artists, and nearly 40 of them came back with virtual performances, and we’re providing funding for that through I Madonnari.”
Sponsors and participants in the May 29-31 festival typically help provide 80 schools every year with more than 400 assembly performances by 135 different touring companies in dance, theater, music and visual arts.
“This has been a tremendously challenging year for school leaders to continue to try to continue offering arts in their programs,” said Barbara LaCorte, a Children’s Creative Project board member now retired from a career as principal in Santa Barbara area schools.
“A lot of principals just kind of gave up.”
It certainly didn’t help that a primary funder of these programs — parent-teacher organizations like PTAs and PTSAs — were unable to hold their traditional fundraising events throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Even with schools offering part-time, on-campus sessions or returning with a variety of hybrid education models, LaCorte said including arts in the mix is a huge challenge.
“Schools are bringing students back, but are reticent to have visitors on campus, so it’s still difficult to bring in our touring programs and our resident artists in person,” she explained.
LaCorte was quick to add her support of educators working through these challenging times.
“I really believe educators realize the importance of the arts, and it’s through the arts we get a lot of children inspired and enthusiastic about learning,” she said.
A 2002 UCLA survey of 62 studies on education and academics found students who engage in the arts perform better across the board. The Arts Education Partnershipfound that studying the arts developed cognitive, organizational and problem-solving skills as well as the ability to parse information from complex texts, such as those found in science and other technical courses.
“We know a lot of academic success comes from having a whole-child program where it’s not just reading, writing and ’rithmetic, so the loss of arts has really been a casualty of the pandemic,” LaCorte said.
Since its inception in 1972, the Children’s Creative Project has been infused with the belief that all children should have access to high-quality arts experiences.
In 1987, Santa Barbara’s I Madonnari Street Painting Festival brought the traditional Italian art form to the steps of the Santa Barbara Mission and the hearts of South Coast art enthusiasts.
“We, as an organization, are about sharing the art process from start to finish with children,” Koury said. “I Madonnari is the perfect embodiment of that.”
While the festival typically gathers artists painting square after square of great works, COVID-19 has forced it to be a relatively private affair. The guest artists completed their project within the confines of the Santa Barbara Bowl with viewing access provided only to the news media to help promote the work.
“It had to be an absolute secret,” Koury said. “No one could know where we were drawing, but we still served our sponsors for the square and local media helped us share the work.”
The 2020 festival shift also resulted in a revenue reduction of about $30,000 in proceeds typically generated by the accompanying Italian market full of specialty vendors.
That shortfall further reduced funding for school programs.
“We were able to pay out artists’ full contracts last year, which was quite a beautiful move by our board of directors,” said Shelley Triggs, a former CCP program associate.
“These artists were out of work, but they had committed to us. Our board was so compassionate, and wanting to be sure our artists would be all right. It’s astounding.”
While the market won’t return in person in 2021, online shopping opportunities are available. And, in true outside-the-box, artistic thinking, the Children’s Creative Project is moving forward with a dispersed I Madonnari to comply with social-distancing recommendations. Sponsors and participants are sought to fund and host squares throughout the South Coast.
“We’re hoping sponsors in Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Goleta and outlying areas, prior sponsoring businesses and individuals, are going to participate like they have in the past and keep our festival going,” Koury said.
“And we welcome artists of any age from children to professionals and practicing artists.”
Click here for more information about the Children’s Creative Project. Click here to make an online donation, or click here to sponsor street art squares for the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival.
By Jennifer Best, Noozhawk Contributing Writer | @NoozhawkNews
April 4, 2021 2:30 p.m.
Thousands of students benefit annually from music, dance, theater and visual arts programs funded in part by popular I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival
[Noozhawk’s note: First in a series sponsored by the Hutton Parker Foundation.]
Over the course of nearly 50 years, and through one pandemic, the Children’s Creative Project has grown to provide arts experiences, collaborations and education to thousands of students in three counties.
It brought street painting to North America, artists to underserved students, and performers to throngs of wiggly children.
And as its 35th Annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival prepares for a coronavirus-friendly virtual iteration that could spread joy and artistic adventure throughout Santa Barbara and beyond, the staff at CCP forge ahead with eyes on post-pandemic arts education for all.
“I Madonnari shows the creative process in action, shows something from the beginning to completion,” CCP executive director Kathy Koury told Noozhawk. “That’s what we’re about as an organization, sharing the creative process with children.”
The festival, scheduled for May 29-31, Memorial Day weekend, also provides CCP the funding it needs to help partner 67 artists with 80 schools serving nearly 40,000 students annually.
Each year, I Madonnari’s sponsors and participants help provide 80 schools with more than 400 assembly performances by 135 different touring companies in dance, theater, music and visual arts.
“There’s still more needed, absolutely,” Koury said. “The arts exercise a wonderful part of the brain in ways that can be applied to everything in life.”
According to the CCP strategic plan, decades of research demonstrate that experiencing the creative process develops critical thinking skills, engages students and fosters innovation.
CCP finds “only 25 percent of California students have access to the four arts disciplines as required by the State of California’s education code.”
“We are committed to bringing high-quality visual and performing arts education to our public schools by providing access to professional international, touring and resident artists,” Bryan Kerner, CCP board president, wrote in the strategic plan.
“Looking ahead, we are focused on accelerating our reach within our school districts in which all students will be exposed to arts education and provided opportunities to engage in creative expression that permeates every school, every grade, every day.”
In addition to Kerner, CCP’s board leadership includes vice president Genevieve Badone Assili, an independent art and design professional; secretary Barbara LaCorte, retired principal of Hope School; and treasurer Bridget Baublits of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
Additional board members include Hilary Campbell of UC Santa Barbara; Lauren Carl; Sara Deinhard of Wendy Foster; Kathy Hollis, who is retired from the county Education Office; Seth Miller of CommUnify; Phil Morreale of the Community West Bank; Jaime Perez of Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories; and Dian Pulverman, a retired architect and architectural historian.
Together, board and staff strive to develop funds to support arts education programs; provide arts experiences for underserved children not normally exposed to the arts; to include the visual and performing arts in children’s basic education through collaboration with school districts, artists and organizations; and expand work opportunities for professional artists serving schools.
Former CCP program associate Shelley Triggs has witnessed firsthand the power of an arts education. She organized resident artists workshops from August 2006 until last month when she resigned to focus on family and her counseling practice.
“The artists are really soulful in their approach to their work, committed to teaching and enjoying the children and bringing the arts alive so we feel like we’re something larger than ourselves,” she said.
“Sometimes the arts may be the only place that can support the well-being of students. Sometimes it’s the arts that bring the excitement, the joy, the bliss in learning.”
Triggs, Koury and program associate Kate Yamasaki stretch CCP funding to augment school budgets, reach out to artists and educators alike, and endeavor to bring the arts in all their forms to students in all their places of learning.
“I was starving for arts as a child,” said Koury, who was raised in Santa Barbara schools in the 1960s.
A first-grade teacher allowed her to stay inside during recess to paint on an easel in the cloak room. Tonette lessons followed in fifth grade. Square dancing found its way to the classroom for sixth-graders. Junior high school brought drill team, the closest thing she could find to dance.
“Now and then, a visual arts project was offered up by a classroom teacher, but it was never enough,” Koury explained. “That’s why I volunteered as an artist in the schools.”
Like so many other artists, Koury discovered that, for her, art wasn’t about the performance, but about the creative process, the refining, the work, the practice.
“It’s something you can practice and get better at,” she said “You can improve. You can see yourself improve, and that’s very satisfying. It leads to self confidence, cooperation with others, creative problem solving.
“But the joy of doing these things is enough; people shouldn’t be afraid to try. I want children to understand that.”
As a young adult, Koury often heard people claim they couldn’t possibly be artistic, that they weren’t creative enough.
“That bothered me,” she said. “It’s not mystical. You can just practice and get better. All you have to do is try and try again. Truly.”
In 1972, Koury began providing after-school batik and weaving lessons at Franklin School. She expanded to include other creative outlets, even a gardening class to take full advantage of the community garden located in Eastside Neighborhood Park, just across the street from the campus.
Bill Cirone, the now-retired Santa Barbara County schools superintendent who was then head of the Center for Community Education and Citizen Participation, adopted the program, and in 1975 the Children’s Creative Project achieved its nonprofit status under the umbrella of the county Education Office.
Expansion quickly followed in spite of a general statewide trend reducing per pupil spending, addressed by many districts through cutting programs, services and staff.
In 1987, the Santa Barbara Mission became home to the nation’s first street painting festival, inspired by a 400-year-old tradition at Grazie di Curtatone in Italy. I Madonnari has become a beloved Memorial Day weekend event that has served as CCP’s primary fundraiser.
CCP’s achievements have included direct workshops for students as well as a variety of star performances. The program brought Laezer Schlomkowitz on to teach theater at Franklin School; hosted Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and others at The Arlington Theatre; and, shortly before the COVID-induced lockdown, brought The Kingdom Choir to the Santa Barbara Bowl.
“In an ideal world, every single school would have an artists in residence program,” Triggs said. “That requires funding to make that happen, and the value in the hearts of the public school system to turn toward the arts for its value to developing the whole child.”
In 1999, the CCP was among 91 nationwide model arts education programs recognized by then-first lady Hillary Clinton in a report, “Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education.”
The report was a study by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and the Arts Education Partnership. It was the first national study to examine the success strategies of school districts in building and sustaining strong district-wide arts education programs.
In the same year, CCP received The Creative Ticket Schools of Excellence award from the California Alliance for Arts Education, a member of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network.
And in 2015, Koury was honored with the Leadership in the Arts Award from the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission.
“We continue to work toward equity in our schools so every child experiences the arts every day in every school,” Koury said.
Click here for more information about the Children’s Creative Project. Click here to make an online donation, or click here to sponsor street art squares for the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival.
By Jessica Brest
Published March 25, 2021 5:01 pm
Artist: Eden Ben-Shoshan
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Education Office has begun planning a virtual version of this year's I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival.
The festival is scheduled to take place on May 29, 30, and 31.
Normally, the festival is held in front of the Old Mission where artists of all ages from across the country come to draw their chalk masterpieces.
However, due to the pandemic, the I Madonnari will look a little different. Instead of gathering in-person, artists are encouraged to draw their pieces on their driveway and share the images on social media.
Daily photos of the artwork will be posted on the festival's website, Facebook and Instagrampages and remain up through May 2022.
Businesses, families, and individuals are also encouraged to sponsor a street painting square to advertise their business or recognize loved ones and friends.
"Squares" range in size from 4-by-6 feet to 12-by-12 feet and cost between $150 to $700.
Square sponsors may provide the name of a "street painter"—or painters—of any age or experience level—or the festival can designate one. Chalk will be provided.
Sponsored drawings will also be shared on social media and the festival website each day, along with the sponsor's name. Sponsor names will be published in a full-page advertisement and listed on iMadonnariFestival.com.
I Madonnari is presented by and benefits the Children's Creative Project (CCP), which serves roughly 50,000 students across more than 100 public schools in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
CCP is a nonprofit arts education organization administered by the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
Throughout the pandemic, CCP has offered various workshops, performances, school funds and more to help students experience the arts.
To become an artist, sponsor a square and more, visit iMadonnariFestival.com.
National Arts in Education Week, September 13-19, recognizes the meaningful and positive impact a strong arts education program provides for students of all ages. The Children’s Creative Project (CCP), a nonprofit program run by the Santa Barbara County Education Office, supports arts education in schools throughout the county. It continues to bring the arts to classrooms as youth engage in remote instruction.
Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Susan Salcido, explained, “The arts are an essential part of a comprehensive education. Students of all ages—from the youngest learners to those in high school and beyond—benefit from visual and performing arts instruction which fosters critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. We deeply value the role the arts play in developing the whole person and are pleased to support our local arts programs.”
One example of CCP’s work is a program conducted at Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD) where 46 classes in the district’s four elementary schools will take part in 36 workshops this year. Students in grades K-5 will enjoy learning from CCP’s artists in dance, vocal music, theater or visual arts. While schools are providing distance-only instruction, these workshops will be presented using live Zoom or as prerecorded sessions. CUSD’s program is part of CCP’s Resident Artist Workshops program offered to schools and districts throughout Santa Barbara County.
![71380005 Dance Workshop[2].JPG](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57f4241ee3df280797aced91/1601411544640-TWG54ERBN9U7WN14UABA/71380005+Dance+Workshop%5B2%5D.JPG)
Genevieve Badone Assili, owner of LA MAMMA ~ Creative, and vice president of CCP’s board, said she benefitted from arts education as a local student. “When I reflect on what helped me choose a creative path, participating in workshops and events sponsored by the Children’s Creative Project is one of the experiences that shines the brightest,” she said.
“Arts education isn’t just instructing kids to make, do, or replicate, it’s about the creative process, giving each student access to what’s possible. Art, whether you’re the artist or the viewer, gives one the power to confront, explore and challenge how we think about the world, while simultaneously fostering a deep appreciation for beauty, culture and authenticity,” she said.
CCP supports youth countywide in significant ways. During the 2019-20 school year, CCP provided support and activities in the following ways, doing so in person until the school closure in March, and via distance learning since that time:
· 400 performances by multicultural touring companies for 44,400 children at 86 school sites.
· Free annual performance events, co-presented with Santa Barbara Bowl Outreach, such as the 2019 performance by the Kingdom Choir from England, which dazzled 2,500 elementary and secondary students with its music.
· Visual and performing arts workshops conducted by resident artists during school hours for more than 33,500 elementary students at 74 school sites.
· A $200 arts credit for each public school to help offset performance fees.
The Kingdom Choir shares their positive message with students at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
Roosevelt Elementary School used CCP’s arts credit for special events throughout the school year. “We started the year with the Bully Dudes which really helped to set the stage for the staff and administration to promote the schools anti-bullying message,” said Jason Saltoun-Ebin, Roosevelt’s Cultural Arts Chair. “Next we had Boxtales perform their bilingual program ‘Magical Tales from Latin America’ and what a magical show it was! The students couldn't stop laughing while learning some very wise folklores. We finished the year with a virtual performance from Cascada de Flores that the students were able to watch safely at home. Thanks again to CCP -- there's no way we could have had all these great performances without their help!"
Artist and dancer Meredith Cabaniss has seen students’ lives transformed by learning skills that help them better express themselves. She said, “Arts education offers us all a chance to be able to not only find new ways of engaging with the world but also with each other. Students who may be shy or lack confidence may find they can do amazing things. Witnessing children having these amazing breakthroughs in their creativity and the way they feel about themselves as they learn valuable skills is the best thing that I could hope to do in my job.”
Since 2010, National Arts in Education Week is celebrated every September. During this week, communities across the country join together to tell the story of the impact and transformative power of the arts in education. These testimonials demonstrate why it has such power.
#BecauseOfArtsEd and #ArtsEdWeek
Refusing to cede ground to the COVID-19 pandemic, artists get creative on driveways throughout the city as well as online
Sophie Paolino’s eye-popping mermaid display is coming together outside Reed Interiors on East Gutierrez Street. (Brooke Holland / Noozhawk photo)
By Brooke Holland, Noozhawk Staff Writer
The I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival is widely regarded as one of Santa Barbara’s most popular springtime events, drawing tens of thousands of spectators to the plaza in front of the historic Santa Barbara Mission during the Memorial Dayweekend.
The coronavirus pandemic that has been sweeping the globe also swept away any hope of continuing the 34th festival in its traditional format. So organizers got as creative as the street painters chalking up their colorful artwork.
Instead of hosting the festival in one place, they took the festival to neighborhood driveways throughout the city, and then online for everyone to view.
This year’s online festival featured artists painting all over the world, according to event organizers.
I Madonnari is also sharing the artwork on its Instagram and Facebook pages.
Street painters transformed the pavement canvases into elaborate and vibrant masterpieces in their driveways and at local businesses.
Local photographer and artist Sophie Paolino used her fingers to smooth out brown-colored chalk on concrete on Sunday. She worked on an eye-popping mermaid display at Reed Interiors at 590 E. Gutierrez St. in Santa Barbara.
“This (Reed Interiors) is where I work as a kitchen designer and I don’t have a driveway that I could have done this in,” said Paolino, a two-time I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival participant. “It’s been challenging physically to do it because the concrete doesn’t blend as well as the pavement.
“I thought it would be fun to do it where I work because we have a lot of parents who bring their kids with them,” she continued. “It’s fun for kids to see it.”
In the 2500 block of Chapala Street, between West Quinto Street and West Constance Avenue, Russ Carter finished a large painting on Sunday afternoon. The black-and-white display featured a smaller illustration of the coronavirus, shown with a red color.
The coronavirus is falling into the vortex — the piece is called “Death to COVID.”
Santa Barbara resident Meredith Morin, who has been an artist at I Madonnari for about 30 years, worked on her art of a big orangutan baby next to a driveway on Mountain Avenue on the Westside.
“I had done two others before this, and they were both about nurses,” she said. “I wanted to do something that was out of the scope, and something that people would laugh at and enjoy.”
The Memorial Day weekend festival is produced by and is a fundraiser for the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. The organization serves roughly 50,000 students in more than 100 public schools.
Three longtime I Madonnari artists are collaborating to create this year’s featured 12-foot-by-48-foot street painting. The large display is in a gated, private area that is not open to the general public, festival organizers said.
Sharyn Chan, Ann Hefferman and Jay Schwartz, with the assistance of Emily Hefferman, are recreating Thomas Hart Benton’s 1947 allegorical painting, “Achelous and Hercules.”
A benefit of this year’s virtual festival is that artists have enough space to do this piece in its entirety, without editing out any of the original content.
“This is allowing us to work bigger,” said Schwartz, who participated in his first Santa Barbara I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival in 1992. “We all have to adapt to this crazy time and this is one way. It’s also good that the festival is being kept alive.”
As part of the 2020 virtual edition on Saturday, children were provided free chalk to create drawings on their driveways — thanks to the sponsorship of Village Properties Realtors.
The I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival will continue Monday at several locations in Santa Barbara.
Click here for more information about the festival.
Chalk painting by Cheryl Guthrie and Terri Taber | Credit: Vita-BellaPhotography.com
By Michelle Drown
Tue May 19, 2020 | 2:23pm
Even though the physical distancing decree is still in place, it doesn’t mean Santa Barbarans have to miss out on one of our favorite springtime events — the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. Rather than setting up camp in front of the Old Mission steps, artists will create their chalk paintings in their driveways. Each day, viewers can follow the evolution of the compositions on the website, Instagram, and Facebook.
There will also be a “Chalk for Kids” event which encourages children to create drawings on their driveways and share their colorful work on Instagram using #ChalkOn2020. Village Properties has donated free chalk, which will be distributed on Saturday, May 23, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., at the drive-through parking lot at the corner of State and Micheltorena streets.
Speaking of kids, donations are being accepted for the Children’s Creative Project arts education program. For more information on the festival, see ccp.sbceo.org/i-madonnari/welcome. Follow the hashtags #imadonnari, #iMadOnline2020, #ChildrensCreativeProject, and #ChalkOn2020.
By LANCE OROZCO • MAY 10, 2020
The coronavirus crisis has pushed one of the South Coast's most unique art events online.
Santa Barbara's I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival usually brings hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of spectators to the Mission during Memorial Day weekend.
It also raises more than $80,000 per year for arts and culture programs in Central and South Coast schools.
Organizers say they will do the entire event online this year, with artists asked to photograph and share their works through the festival's website and social media.
The situation is a financial blow for the Santa Barbara County's Children's Creative Project.
The project's Executive Director, Kathy Koury, says the organization makes money from sponsorships of the chalk drawings at the mission, plus from food and t-shirt sales. She says they are hoping to make a least a third of what they would normally get from what's become their biggest annual fundraiser.
The nonprofit, which is operated through the Santa Barbara County Education Office, offers arts programs in schools, ranging from performances to hands-on workshops.
By Barry Punzal, Noozhawk Sports Editor | @NoozhawkSports
May 6, 2020 12:55 p.m.
The I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival is moving from the Santa Barbara Mission Plaza to neighborhood driveways around the city, and then online for everyone to see.
Festival creator Kathy Koury said artists will work in driveways and then photograph their drawings, which will be shared on the event website the weekend of May 23.
The festival is a Memorial Day weekend tradition in Santa Barbara, drawing thousands to the Mission Plaza to view paintings drawn with chalk pastels by local artists.
The artwork is sponsored and the funds support the Children’s Creative Project for arts education programs that serve more than 100 public schools and 50,000 students. The CCP is a nonprofit program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
I Madonnari was cancelled last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Koury and her staff brought it back by coming up with the driveway artwork and virtual festival idea.
“While we can’t be together in person at the Old Mission this year, we can share the spirit of this wonderful festival virtually,” she said.
The festival will release updated information on its Instagram and Facebook platforms.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival 2020 is going online. While we can’t be together in person at the Old Mission this year, we can share the spirit of this wonderful festival virtually. New street paintings drawn with chalk pastels will be created by invited artists on their driveways for festival sponsors during the Memorial Day weekend on May 23-25.
See our social media for exciting updates, street painting photos, and Chalk for Kids:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Santa-Barbara-I-Madonnari-Festival-125996794086931/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/imadonnari/?hl=en
Festival Websites:
https://ccp.sbceo.org/i-madonnari/welcome/
http://www.imadonnarifestival.com/
The Children’s Creative Project (CCP) presents the I Madonnari Festival to raise funds for its arts education programs serving more than 100 public schools and 50,000 students. The CCP is a nonprofit program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office, Susan Salcido Superintendent.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The COVID-19 pandemic has led organizers of the annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival at the Santa Barbara Mission to call it off.
The event was set for May 23-25, 2020.
It has never been cancelled in its 33-year history prior to this decision.
It is estimated that 25,000 people come to the asphalt in front of the mission to see the artists over three days.
There's also Italian music, food and a gathering that some visit more than once during the festival.
The event is a benefit for the Children's Creative Project. That's a nonprofit arts education program from the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
It benefits 50,000 students with a variety of art experiences during the school year.
“While we are all missing the loss of ‘normal,’ it is important to follow state and local recommendations regarding group gatherings and do our part to continue to slow the spread of this virus,” said CCP Executive Director Kathy Koury. “We look forward to presenting our festival again during the Memorial Day weekend in 2021.”
Thousands of excited kids are headed into the Santa Barbara Bowl for a concert. But it’s not a rock, or rap event. It’s an education program which is exposing them to some American classics. The “Kids At The Bowl” event is giving some 3,000 children a taste of classic “Doo Wop.”
The Santa Barbara Bowl and the Children’s Creative Project teamed up for the show starring the more than three decade old group “The Alley Cats”. The group has been featured on PBS specials, and has performed everywhere from The White House to Disneyland.
The program provides a unique cultural experience for some 3000 students that many schools in the region simply couldn’t provide on their own. KCLU’s Lance Orozco brings you the sounds of the event.
The April 8 event featured The Alley Cats and UCSB Dance Company in two high-energy performances.
Santa Barbara Bowl in collaboration with the Children’s Creative Project presented The Alley Cats, a cappella group from Los Angeles, performing with the UCSB Dance Company in two free shows for Santa Barbara area public school children.
As part of the Santa Barbara Bowl's Outreach initiative focused on performing arts, and coordinated by the Children’s Creative Project, the Kids at the Bowl event hosted nearly 3,000 students for two free 45-minute educational and high-energy performances held at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Monday, April 8 at 9:30 AM and 10:45 AM.
The Alley Cats realize the music of the fifties and sixties is still a popular genre. They also know, however, that they are reaching a new and younger audience. During the performance, the four members of The Alley Cats offered their unparalleled doo-wop, America's most known and loved music, blended with comedy, showmanship, and dance to help students learn about harmony, pitch, tempo…and experience a live performance in a renowned setting.
The UCSB Dance Company, a 14-member student dance company under the direction of Delila Moseley, joined The Alley Cats on stage for six dances choreographed by Moseley. The show incorporated swing, lindy hop, salsa, (set by student Yuna Choi), twist, smooth ballroom, and modern dance into high-energy, entertaining dance numbers.
The Alley Cats work to always engage student audiences with familiar ideas to ensure the music is both appealing and accessible to all ages. At the same time, the group works to keep the songs and performances as true to their original form. The amazing fact about this music is that it is timeless and enjoyed by people of all ages.
“These special performances are the result of wonderful collaborations between organizations dedicated to providing diverse art and cultural opportunities for children and families,” said Susan Salcido, Santa Barbara County superintendent of schools. “We are grateful for the commitment of the Bowl Foundation, The Towbes Foundation, the City of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture to increase access to art and culture and make this extraordinary opportunity available to so many of our students.”
A program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office, Children’s Creative Project presents visual arts and performing arts instruction by resident artists and touring artist performances in 92 schools serving more than 50,000 students in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties each year. The Children’s Creative Project also presents the annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival to support, in part, their arts education programs.
Kids at the Bowl is an essential program of Santa Barbara Bowl Outreach that hosts large-scale, cultural performances for Santa Barbara County students. Benefits extend far beyond the performance—they educate students on how to be a part of an audience; provide a cultural experience at a historic, community landmark; and create an opportunity to imagine careers in the arts.
Four vocalists with some flashback music enlightened elementary students at the Santa Barbara Bowl Monday morning.
In two different sessions, an estimated 2800 children were able to see the show through the efforts of the bowl staff and the Santa Barbara County Education Office and its Children's Creative Project.
They came in from throughout Santa Barbara, Goleta and Carpinteria.
Franklin Elementary school principal Casey Kilgore said many of her students had never been at the bowl. She said it was inspiring to see the different aspects of a show. "Now with some of the technology to get back to the basics is very exciting for them," Kilgore said.
A student Remy Zaragosa said, "I saw a lot of confidence. People were really supportive."
"I saw there was a lot of compassionate people on the stage and they were really happy," Indie Hill said.
It was inspiring on many levels.
"We never know what these kids will grow up and want to be and do and to see the sound technicians and the people behind the scenes, there's so many positions and jobs within that. Even the UCSB dancers I could see them say I want to go to UCSB and major in dance," said Kilgore.
The group sang songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Barbara Ann" and a sample of "Duke of Earl" to show off their versatility.
There were two morning shows to maximize the number of schools that could attend.
They included Adelante, Kellogg, Franklin, Monroe, Aliso, SB Communty Academy, Hope, Peabody, Santa Barbara Junior High, Sana Barbara High, Hollister, and Goleta family.
Outside plans included parking for numerous buses and coordination with the bowl parking and usher staffs.
Thousands of excited elementary school students poured into the Santa Barbara Bowl, but it wasn't to see a traditional concert like Katy Perry or Sugarland. They were on hand to learn about culture and music.
The more than 4000 students split between a pair of shows learned about Japanese Taiko drumming, through a mini-concert by the Taiko Center of Los Angeles.
The program is part show, and part education.
The Santa Barbara Bowl is using this event as a kickoff to efforts to ramp up its educational programs. The program is a collaboration of community groups.
The Bowl is hoping to host one of these educational concerts a year in the future.
- KCLU's Lance Orozco reports on a reboot of a program to offer arts, and music education through events at the Santa Barbara Bowl
