An unusual project is underway in front of the Santa Barbara Mission. Two artists are hard at work. They're on their hands and knees, using sponges to spread colored chalk on the ground.
Cheryl Guthrie and Terri Taber are creating a billboard-sized artwork to be the centerpiece of the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. It’s an image of the Santa Barbara coastline near UC Santa Barbara, with a woman who looks like Mother Nature in the foreground.
The festival is a nearly four-decade tradition that raises funds for the arts programs in Santa Barbara County’s schools.
"I Madonnari is a beloved Santa Barbara tradition that was started by Kathy Koury after seeing an Italian street painting festival in Italy," said Kai Tepper, Executive Director of the Children’s Creative Project. "It's a street painting festival that's a fundraiser for our organization, the Children's Creative Project, which provides funding for arts education in our schools in Santa Barbara County."
Guthrie and Taber are the only two artists working right now, but about 200 others will join them this Memorial Day weekend. The volunteers will create some 140 chalk artworks.
Businesses and groups sponsor the works, generating money for the nonprofit. An area with food and craft booths also brings in more money. More than 35,000 people are expected to visit the festival during the three-day weekend.
One of those watching the artists at work is the person who started the festival.
"Jesse Alexander, who's a local photographer, told me about the street painting festival in Italy, and he told me I should go to the festival and do one here," said Kathy Koury, who staged the first event in Santa Barbara 39 years ago. "I had been trying to think of a fundraising event (for the Children's Creative Project) for ten years that wasn't a classic car show, or a food and wine event...something that related to us as a nonprofit in art education. It was perfect!"
Taber and Guthrie are hard at work on their colorful landscape. The two retired nurses have been a part of the festival since 2001, but this is the first time they've done the featured piece, which is four or five times larger than most of the other works. Because it’s so large, they say it might not be done until Monday.
"It's hard on the back. We were just talking about our love of Advil," joked Guthrie.
"This is kind of a performance art," said Taber. "It's for people to watch, as you are doing it."
But she notes that, unlike traditional things like paintings, these works are temporary.
"Everything is transient, isn't it?" said Taber.
The festival runs from 10 to 6 Saturday, May 24, through Monday, May 26, at the Santa Barbara Mission. There’s no admission charge, but be prepared to do some walking, because parking can be tough.
And, if you’re going to be out of town for the holiday weekend, you can stop by during the coming weeks to see the works, because they’ll be there until the first fall rain erases them forever.
