They chalk at the chance

Luis Pena

Artists from around the country came to get on all fours and paint

masterpieces of art on asphalt.

Ralph Rodheim, organizer of the first La Strada dell’ Arte: An

Italian Street Painting Festival, said that only the best artists

from other chalk art festivals were invited. The event was not a

competition, he said, but an event to let art come alive before

people’s eyes.

“There is so much quality. Everybody walks here, and they go,

‘Wow, and then they see the next one, and they go, ‘Wow,” Rodheim

said.

A lot of planning went in to ensure that the artists had the

perfect asphalt canvas. The streets on which the artists painted were

washed or had a new coat of slurry placed on them. The cleaning and

the slurring allowed for a darker and smoother surface for the

artists to work on.

Jesse Silva, an artist from West Covina, has been chalk painting

for seven years. Silva painted Michelangelo’s “The Holy Family” at

the festival. He enjoys painting before the crowd, he said, because

of the adulation that he gets from the people watching him.

“Here, you get a lot of compliments from people, which you don’t

get at home or when you’re alone.” Silva said.

Michael Kirby from Baltimore is one of the best street painters in

the world. Kirby heard about the competition while he was at a

festival in Italy and decided that he wanted to be a part of it.

Kirby does all original work. He decided to paint a sphere of the

Balboa Pavilion, and he added angels to the sphere to keep with the

Renaissance theme of the festival.

One of the reasons he enjoys participating in street painting is

the ability to work out in public, Kirby said.

“One of the special things about doing street drawings is the

ability to work in the public and have all forms of people coming up

to you and be able to speak to you,” he said. “It’s a beautiful

thing.”

The Piazza de Bambini, the children’s chalk painting area, started

small on Saturday but was expanded on Sunday to accommodate all of

the children wanting to show their artistic talents.

Chantelle Wolfe from Costa Mesa said that she and her children

draw on their sidewalks at home using chalk. They came to admire the

artists at the festival, she said.

“Its kind of fun to see what the fine art people are down there,”

she said.

Emily Wolfe, 7, drew springtime on the asphalt.

“I am artistic and art is my habit,” she said.

Tracy Lee Stum, an award-winning artist from Los Angeles, came to

the festival to promote street painting in Newport Beach because the

city hasn’t had it before.

Stum has painted murals inside the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

For the festival, Stum painted a section of Caravaggio’s “Madonna of

the Pilgrims.”

A lot of planning goes into the temporary masterpieces. Stum, for

example, plotted a grid to make sure that the oval frame that she was

creating would come out right. Kirby worked out calculations right on

the asphalt.

“Before this is finished, I’m always thinking about the next one,”

Stum said.

Bridget Ashton from Corona del Mar came to see the artists paint

because it was something different.

“Its intense and inspiring,” Ashton said.

Marcia Dossey, who lives on the Balboa Peninsula, said that she

appreciates that such an event was done for the area.

“It’s nice to see it in your own neighborhood.” Dossey said.

Proceeds of the event will go to support the educational programs

at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.

* LUIS PENA is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at luis.pena@latimes.com.