Spectators mingle among the artists working on their chalk masterpieces at the 33th annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival on Saturday at the Santa Barbara Mission. The three-day festival, which concludes Monday, is a benefit for the nonprofit Children’s Creative Project. 
This year’s featured artist, Sharyn Chan, works on her entry in the 33th annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival at the Santa Barbara Mission on Saturday. 
Spectators watch featured artist Sharyn Chan’s artwork come to life Saturday. 
Former Santa Barbara resident Delphine Louie Anaya returns from Los Angeles each year to participate in I Madonnari. This year she’s creating a yak, an important animal in the Himalayas. 
Ana Fagan, who has been making chalk paintings for Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter (BUNS) for years, pause while sketching out her plans for this year. 
If you stand in just the right spot, the stunning 3D figures for this anamorphic piece jump right out of the pavement. 
Featured artist Sharyn Chan began work on her creation Tuesday. 
Architect Tom Meaney is known for the extraordinary subtlety of the skin tones in his art, which always involve family members. One of his secrets is mixing commercial pigments with his own special chalk formulation, which includes beeswax, Ivory soap, linseed oil and wallpaper paste. 
These artists were honoring the efforts to restore Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris after the recent devastating fire. 
Santa Barbara’s May gray didn’t discourage several thousand visitors at the 33rd annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival at the Santa Barbara Mission on Saturday.
Artists were turning about 140 squares of asphalt into elaborate artwork with vivid color hues and eye-popping designs. The paintings are drawn with chalk pastels at the plaza in front of the historic mission. The canvases range from 4-by-6 feet to 12-by-12 feet and each vibrant work displays the name of the sponsor.
The festival is a free event that is open to public, and it concludes Monday evening.
The large-scale gathering benefits the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. The organization serves about 50,000 children in more than 80 public schools with visual and performing arts education programs.
Fundraising from the three-day festival helps continue the CCP’s work to support free annual performances and other activities.
“The event is about the creative process and the joy of making art, and that’s the focus — not only for this event but also for the nonprofit,” executive director Kathy Koury told Noozhawk. “The artists participate for the love of making art, and because it’s a unique idea.”
At the festival, onlookers can observe the creation process from start to finish, she said, calling it a rare opportunity.
The event is held rain or shine, Koury said. While Saturday was mostly cloudy, the National Weather Service warned that rain showers are likely Sunday before the sun returns Monday.
The chalk won’t completely wash away, Koury said, adding that artists will resume drawing when the pavement dries.
“As soon as it drys out, the drawings will come back to life,” she said. “The chalk sinks into the asphalt when it’s wet, and when it dries it reappears, and the artists can continue drawing.”
Kids can create street paintings at a private parking area located at the west side of the mission. Throughout the event, the 2-by-2 feet square can be purchased for $12, which includes a box of chalk.
A ceremony is scheduled at noon Monday on the mission steps to introduce and thank the festival’s major sponsors and this year’s featured artist, Sharyn Chan, of Santa Barbara. Her large street painting nearby will be finished.
Chan is a self-taught artist, and travels the world working as a street artist. She also teaches hip-hop dance and she works as a government contract project manager.
The festival also includes live music and food available for purchase from booths on the mission lawn.
The I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival will continue from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday at the Santa Barbara Mission, 2201 Laguna St. Free parking for the event is adjacent to the mission.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
