I Madonnari Comes Back to Move Forward

I Madonnari Comes Back to Move Forward

Santa Barbara’s Beloved Street-Painting Festival Returns to the Mission Refreshed

By Charles Donelan | May 26th, 2022

When the annual I Madonnari street-painting festival returns to the Old Mission this weekend after two years of operating online, participants and attendees will celebrate more than just la dolce vita, Santa Barbara–style. From its beginning, this iconic expression of collective effervescence has had its roots in the year-round activities of the Children’s Creative Project (CCP), an enduring and influential public-private partnership dedicated to bringing the arts and artists into Central Coast schools. The founder of I Madonnari, Kathy Koury, was also the executive director of the Children’s Creative Project for 44 years. CCP’s new director, Kai Tepper, inherits a much-cherished community event and an organization that exemplifies the public spirit of our city and region. 

Held on the plaza in front of the Mission Santa Barbara, I Madonnari takes place over the three days of Memorial Day weekend. The organizers divide the asphalt in front of the Mission into 130 squares. On Saturday morning, participating artists arrive with supplies and receive colored chalk, ready to realize their visions for their piece of the festival’s giant mosaic. Original designs, copies of Renaissance masterpieces, and everything in between take shape over the next 72 hours as the artists lie, sit, and kneel on their asphalt canvases, sketching and shading their creations. In the surrounding area, vendors offer fresh food and cold beverages to a crowd of friends and onlookers. With the Mission as a backdrop in one direction and the Channel Islands in the other, it’s as picturesque as anything in Santa Barbara — which says a lot. 

Behind all the fun and beauty of this special holiday weekend event lies a host of fascinating and influential factors that give depth and consequence to the sheer pleasure of the scene. When the event was founded by Koury  in 1987, it was the first such festival dedicated to the art of street painting in the Western Hemisphere and Mexico. Based on a similar festival in the small Italian city of Grazie di Curtatone, I Madonnari offers a modern California take on a tradition that dates back to the 16th century. Sponsorships for the artworks fund the CCP, which has served hundreds of schools and tens of thousands of children for more than four decades.