Street painting is an artform that's growing in popularity here in California. It's most closely associated with Italy, where there is a longstanding tradition of reproducing the works of Renaissance masters in soft pastels on the street. Street painters in Italy are called madonnari after their favorite subject: paintings of the Madonna and Child (and variations on that theme). Here in California, the oldest street painting festival is in Santa Barbara and is called the I Madonnari Festival. It occurs every Memorial Day weekend. Other popular festivals are in San Rafael, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego.

We started street painting with some friends at the Santa Barbara I Madonnari festival in 2000. We've gone every year since then. In 2003, the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts added street painting to their arts and crafts festival. We participated that year and every year since. In the fall of 2005, we participated in the San Luis Obispo I Madonnari festival for the first time, and in 2006 we added the Danville Fine Arts Faire and the San Carlos Art and Wine Faire to our list of street painting venues. In 2007 we added San Rafael's Youth In Arts, then were honored to be feature artists for the first two years of Luna Park's Chalk Art Festival in San Jose in 2008 and 2009. We traveled out of state for the first time in October 2010 to participate in the Sarasota (FL) International Chalk Festival. We have painted on both Florida coasts since then, at Sarasota and at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival near West Palm Beach.

2013 Schedule:
Lake Worth Street Painting Festival, February 23-24, 2013
Santa Barbara I Madonnari Festival, May 25-27, 2013
Danville Fine Arts Faire, June 22-23, 2013
Italian Street Painting Marin, June 29-30, 2013
Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 24-25, 2013
San Luis Obispo I Madonnari Festival, date TBD, 2013
Luna Park Sidewalk Chalk Festival, September 21, 2013
Sarasota International Chalk Festival, date TBD, 2013

Here are some photos of street paintings we've done in the past. Enjoy!