Sarasota Chalk Festival

[[File:Sarasota chalk festival tra4691 2010 poster.jpg|thumb|2010 Sarasota Chalk Festival poster by Jeff Bleitz]]'''Sarasota Chalk Festival''' is an [[United States|American]] cultural event celebrating a sixteenth century [[performing art]] form of [[Italy|Italian]] [[street painting]]. 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 [[Owen Burns|Burns Square]]. 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. ==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. 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. 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 [[Stereoscopy|3-D]] street painting that made history as well. For the first time in history a street painting was designed to [[metamorphosis|metamorphose]], the image changing from day to night from a giant into a fetus in the uterus, through the use of [[photoluminescence|photoluminescent]] paints. It measured 100’ x 40’. 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]]. 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. 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. 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 [[flute|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. ==External links== {{Commons category|Sarasota Chalk Festival}} * [http://www.chalkfestival.com Sarasota Chalk Festival Official Site] * [http://www.sarasotagov.com/index2.html City of Sarasota Official Site] {{coord missing|Florida}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarasota Chalk Festival}}