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, we began painting at other festivals, first adding the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts and later adding festivals in other California cities such as Danville, San Luis Obispo, and San Jose. We traveled out of state for the first time in October 2010 to participate in the Sarasota International Chalk Festival in Sarasota, Florida. We have painted on both Florida coasts since then, at Sarasota and at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival near West Palm Beach, and have traveled to the New York's Hudson Valley and Kansas City to paint as well. In 2015, we were excited to travel internationally for the first time, when we painted at the Victoria International Chalk Art festival in Victoria, British Columbia. Street painting remains primarily a hobby for us, but it does seem to take over our lives at times!

2019 Schedule:
Lake Worth Street Painting Festival, February 23-24, 2019
Sarasota International Chalk Festival, April 5-7, 2019
Pacific Commons Chalk Festival, May 5, 2019
Santa Barbara I Madonnari Festival, May 25-27, 2019
Westlake Shopping Center Chalk Festival, June 8, 2019
The Chalk Art Experience, Burnaby, BC, June 14-15, 2019
Redwood City Chalk Full of Fun on the Square, July 3-4, 2019
La Strada dei Pastelli Chalk Art Festival, August 10-11, 2019
Pacific NW Chalk Fest, August 16-18, 2019
Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 24-25, 2019
Luna Park Sidewalk Chalk Festival, September 14-15, 2019
Pleasant Hill Chalk Festival, September 28, 2019
Marietta Chalktoberfest, October 12-13, 2019
Sarasota International Chalk Festival, November 15-17, 2019

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

Santa Barbara I Madonnari Festival, May 2013
Feature Artists
Heaven's View
original art by Wayne and Cheryl Renshaw
additional photography by Craig Houdeshell and Chris Knight