Florida Gulf Coast Community Hosting International Chalk Art Festival

SARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Streets are being cleaned and downtown shop windows are being shined as Sarasota, Florida (www.sarasotafl.org) prepares to host the largest Chalk Festival in North America beginning November 1. The festival will feature performance art by over 250 artists who use chalk as their medium and pavement as their canvas, turning streets into a museum in motion.

This year's festival is free to the public and expected to draw over 100,000 spectators to the beautiful Gulf Coast community located just south of Tampa Bay. The main exhibitions will be located on South Pineapple Avenue in Burns Square, downtown Sarasota with many of the featured events taking place during the weekend of November 4-6. A special viewing day to look at $1 million dollars of completed artwork prior to street cleaning is Monday, November 7.

Lectures and demonstrations are scheduled for those who want a more detailed knowledge of street painting. A collector edition magazine has been produced for the occasion and is available online and at the event.

A segment of the festival will recreate the first street painting festival in the world, the Grazie di Curtatone that began in Mantua, Italy in 1973. Over twenty Italian artists are traveling to Sarasota to participate and will work straight through for 24 hours under strict rules of competition.

In addition, the Sarasota Chalk Festival is honoring a first time in 16-year festival performance by the innovator of 3-D pavement art, American artist Kurt Wenner. Wenner devised a unique geometry that enables him to bring illusions to the horizontal surface of the street. This new art form, known as anamorphic, illusionistic or simply 3-D street painting has become a worldwide phenomenon with many fabulous artists showcasing their 3-D skills.

Finally, the Sarasota Opera will be performing one-hour excerpts of 'Madame Butterfly' at the festival on a set created by artist Michael Kirby.

"There's no other art event that brings this level of quality talent so up close and personal while they're performing," said event founder Denise Kowal. "All the planning and passion has come together, and we're excited to watch the public bring the event to life."

Contact: Jack Glasure (P) 813.415.4454 (E): [email protected] (W) www.chalkfestival.com

SOURCE Sarasota Chalk Festival