“It’s the sense of restrained emotion in those eyes,” JD tells me as we walk by one absolutely stunning image, featured above. “They seem so genuine. There is something going on there, but you’re not quite sure what.”

For me, it’s the juxtaposition of the background against her image just makes me wonder what’s going on there. The painting he’s referring to above is one by Erik Montañez, an artist I’m not familiar with.

Welcome to I Madonnari 2025!

Nearby is another amazing painting by local Santa Barbara artist Sharyn Chan that is just beginning to shape. In her depiction of a young girl it’s also the eyes that catch my attention.

Even though both are just taking shape, it’s easy to see that they are on their way to becoming beautiful works of art as are dozens more that we both agree are outstanding.

Welcome to another great I Madonnari Chalk Art Festival!

Oldies but Goodies

This year’s festival is a bit different for both JD and me. JD is John Danner, a retired San Francisco firefighter who comes down each year with his family to enjoy the festival. He’s become a good friend and compadre when it comes to photographing the paintings.

When I checked in with him a few days before, I received an ominous message. “I’ll be there,” he told me, “but I come in pain.”

It turns out he’s had recent surgery on his shoulder, and it hasn’t turned out well. I’m not in much better shape given my bionic hips and knees and some recent surgery. Age seems to be catching up with the both of us no matter how much we wish it weren’t so.

While we both agree getting older is a pain in the you-know-what, thankfully the I Madonnari Chalk Art Festival seems to be aging well.

This is the 39th year the festival has graced the steps of the Santa Barbara Mission, save a time out when COVID closed down most everything. I’m guessing JD and I have shared time here for at least the last 15 or so of them.

Getting Reacquainted with Friends

Over the first three days of the festival, along with the chalk art, JD and I spend time getting reacquainted with each other and the artists. Ours is a different kind of relationship than what I have with others. We see each other just a few days a years — almost all focused on the I Madonnari Festival — yet at the same time catching up on what’s been happening over the past year.

Eventually we gravitate toward the artists who’ve been a part of the festival for years, some for decades.

These include Sharyn and Eric’s paintings but also those by Cecelia, Jay, Phil, Ann, Lisa, Dawn, Blair, Terry, Cheryl, Wayne, Tom, Jesse, Jen and so many more. These are the artists who’ve helped create that legacy that the festival has become.

Wow! Their works seem to be better than ever.

The Featured Artists

For me the painting by this year’s Featured Artists, Terri Tabor and Cheryl Guthrie, is a particularly moving piece. They’ve been favorites of mine it seems like forever, perhaps because of their choice of subjects, in this case the Goleta lagoon.

Multi-cultural influences

Despite attempts by some to erase the vast cultural influences that have shaped our nation and particularly California, the Chalk Art Festival always exemplifies the best of what that influence means here in Santa Barbara.

Not too far from Sharyn Chan’s painting is another by an artist known simply as “Delphine.” Both she and Sharon are longtime I Madonnari participants, bringing their cultures and values to their painting, but doing so in different ways that compliment one another.

JD is in full agreement. “Note the different ways each conveys the power of each of their subjects,” JD tells me. “The sense of imagination they bring to their paintings is so different, but together they invite the type of questions and discussion they wouldn’t have separately.”

Another of the longtime festival artists that JD and I love dearly is Cecelia Linayao, who journeys up here each year from the San Diego area. “See those eyes,” JD exclaims. “Incredible,” I respond.

Tuesday Morning Reflections

It’s Tuesday morning, a bit after 6 a.m. the day after this year’s I Madonna chalk art festival has ended. It has been one of the most successful festivals, especially because there were concerns the Santa Barbara Mission might not be available this year if the asphalt area were redesigned for accessible parking.

Nurturing a Future Legacy

Last year when I sat down with Kai Tepper, director of the Children’s Creative Project (CCP), we talked about the future of I Madonnari — not just about its location but how to invest in the kids benefitting from the CCP, which serves thousands of students from more than 80 schools in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Without the dollars the festival brings in, funding the arts in those schools would be much more difficult, as would continuing the development of future I Madonnari artists hard at work here today.

First Class Art

From what JD and I are seeing as we walk along the rows of the smaller paintings — those in the 4×6 or 6×8 sizes — it’s clear the art being created here is absolutely first class.

One that impressed both of us has a “taming your dragon” theme to it, and the detail and the emotional feeling of the young woman and the gentle-looking dragon is special. The painting is by students from the Studio Arts Club at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, many of whom I’m sure benefitted from the CCP arts programs.

It’s just one of a dozen or more painted by what I would call the “emerging artists” generation, who range in age from their teens to early twenties. Judging from what I’m seeing here, the future is in solid hands.

I’m at a loss for words as I tag along with JD.

There’s a painting by Abby of a young woman looking expressionless to her life ahead and others like: the tiger painted by Kieran Meaney; the young woman filling in a dog’s furry details; the woman surrounded by healing hands; the puppy dog with the big nose; the multi-colored bear.

Another painting in particular is as intense as it gets: a teenage girl clearly in distress.

I turn to JD and I ask, “Are we seeing the beginning of a generational shift? Will these be the artists moving up onto the big squares sometime soon?”

“Without a doubt,” he responds, pointing out a few others that he suggests he’ll be looking forward to at I Madonnari 2026.

It’s like the young girl reading by the light of her future dreams, I think. There are lions and tigers and princesses and fairy tale lands and magic dragons out there waiting to be painted and artists ready to be the next Sharyn, Delphine or Cecelia.

Heading Home

It’s time for JD to head home, and this year’s festival has been a bit bittersweet. We’re both getting older, the bones a bit more brittle and the muscles a tad more stiff.

But there’s also a satisfaction that the legacy that Kathy Koury helped start 39 years ago and Kai Tepper is now shaping is in good hands. This year’s art has been as good as it gets, and we’re both looking forward to next year.

Did I mention that there’s a new generation of artists just waiting to show us what they are capable of creating?

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Though I’ve tried to include as many images from I Madonnari as possible, I know many have been left out. Many apologies for that but please know your work has helped make I Madonnari what it is today.

Also note that not all of the paintings have been signed, or in some cases they are blurry enough I may have gotten the spelling wrong. Please let me know so I can correct the mistakes or make sure your art is recognized.