Participating Visual Artists 2017

Flavio Coppola

Flavio Coppola, painter, muralist and street artist, lives and works in Florence, Italy. Born in Venezuela in 1962, he  qualified in Artistic Liceum  in 1980 and received a Diploma in Advanced Studies in painting at the Fine Art Academy of Rome in 1984. He worked as a restorer of frescos, stucchi and wall decorations, in various churches in the Liguria region and for private clients.  He has participated at numerous art-shows, performances and installations, both group and individually, in the Florence and Romans scene. Active as a street-artist since early 1990, he introduced a new spirit to the well known ‘Madonnaro’ discipline in Florence and many locations in Italy and Europe and all over the south of Italy and was invited to participate at the following street-art festivals: Mercantia  Certaldo nelle edizioni  from 1998 to 2005; Antica Fiera delle Grazie nelle edizioni from 1990 to 2001 e from 2009 to 2014, Linzer Pflasterspektakel  (Austria) in 2007, The Colours of Valkenburg (Olanda) in 2008 and the Sarasota Chalk Festival (US) in 2011.

Francesca Arsi

Francesca Arsì, painter, musician, street artist, lives and works in Assisi, Italy. Born in Genova in 1984, she is qualified in restoration and wall-painting in 2005. She worked as restorer of frescos, stucchi and wall decorations,  in various churches in the Liguria region and for private clients. She has a Batchelor’s degree in painting at the Academy of Genova in 2009 and graduated in superior studies in painting at the Academy of Torino in 2012.  She has participated at numerous art-shows, both group and single in the genovese and torinese scene. Her work selected for Athens Art 2010 and she has had shows in the gallery Marena Project, Torino and at “The Others” (Torino 2013).  Francesca performs musical decomposition along with Hairi Vogel. (2013 -) Active as a street-artist since early 2014, she introduced a new spirit to the well known ‘Madonnara’ discipline in Florence, Assisi, Siena and all over the south of Italy and was invited to participate at street-art festivals in Toulon, Almere and Scheveningen. At the yearly ‘Antichissima Fiera delle Grazie’ in Curtatone , Italy, (the world’s biggest reunion of traditional ‘Madonnari’) her work was awarded by the Rotary Club.

Michael Kirby

Michael William Kirby is a leading public artist and street painter from Baltimore, MD, USA. He has nearly 20 years of experience creating permanent and temporary public art pieces around the world. Mr. Kirby has been commissioned and contracted since the early 1990’s for his unique and original view of anamorphic or forced perspective street paintings or more commonly known as 3D street art, 3D street painting, 3D chalk art, ephemeral art, or 3D sidewalk art. This technique of using sharp angles and adjusting the image to the viewers point of view was adapted from Kirby’s time while creating sets and props for Opera companies and Movie/TV sets in Italy. The technique of forced perspective and 3 dimensional illusions have been around in theatre since the ancient Greeks. Mr. Kirby was one of the first artists to adapt this technique with his own unique style to public art.

Today Michael Kirby is considered a master in the art form and was the first American artist to have won the title of Master Street Painter in all the major European Street Painting festivals. Since the early 90’s he has spread the art form to numerous locations that include Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Guatemala, England, Ireland, France, various locations in the USA and many others. Artists from many of these countries have copied and used his techniques to create 3D images on the pavement on their own. Today artists of the past and present continue to turn to Mr. Kirby’s work as a base to develop their own work.

The Los Angeles Times wrote “Michael Kirby is one of the best Street painters in the world.” Mr. Kirby continues to be commissioned and contracted for advertising, marketing, festivals, and other events. He has worked in over 200 cities and been across North and South America and Europe creating street paintings. As well as creating street paintings Mr. Kirby also teaches workshops and lectures on technique and history of street painting. The workshops that teach the tricks of the trade such as using pigments vs pastels, using carpets, scaling, color schemes, mica, and other techniques. The lectures speak about history and artists.

Mr. Kirby has worked for such clients as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, Honda, McDonalds, Carnival Cruise Ships and been featured on the David Letterman Show, Ace of Cakes, BBC, Good Morning America, Il Tempo, Venezia Gazatte, Informador, and others. Michael Kirby is considered a leader in this rising art form and an originator of the 3D look. He is also commissioned to create permanent public art pieces using techniques he learned in Italy and Mexico which include fresco. He is one of a handful of artist that uses the labor intensive technique in the United States. The majority of his permanent public art pieces are in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States which includes the states of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC. He has also developed original techniques using fiber cement in his work so that his 2D visual public art pieces can be shipped and installed in locations around the world.

Tomoteru "ToMo" Saito

Tomoteru “Tomo” Saito was born and raised in Osaka, Japan and now lives and works in Florence, Italy. He studied at the Designer’s School in Osaka and worked as an architect in Tokyo before moving to Italy where he is now a “Madonnaro,” or street painter. Besides classical 2-D street painting, he also creates anamorphic 3-D street painting. He holds some of the most prestigious awards in street painting, most notably from the Grazie di Curtatone Madonnari Competition in Mantova, Italy, where he was awarded 1st place among “Maestri Madonnari” in 2000 and 2001. He participates in street painting festivals throughout Europe, the U.S., Mexico, Hong Kong, Dubai and more.

Jennifer Chaparro and Mercedes Chaparro

Jennifer Chaparro is an internationally recognized award-winning street painter/madonnara from South Florida.  She grew up in San Diego and has a degree in Design from UCLA. Her daughter, Mercedes Chaparro, has a degree in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and now lives and works in the Washington DC area.  Jennifer began street painting in 2004 as something fun to do with her daughter, but then turned it into a business and now travels the world creating custom works of art for festivals and special events.  Jennifer received her Maestro Certification in 2011, and is known for her exquisite portraiture, but also for exciting 3D anamorphic street art that boggles the mind. You can see more of her work on her website at www.AmazingStreetPainting.com.

Ever Galvez

Ever Galvez is a fine artist, classically trained in painting, drawing, sculpture and traditional  animation. He is known most prominently for his award winning Chalk Street Painting talents. He began his journey enriched by the vibrant colors of Mexico and eventually the multicultural influences of Southern California. Through his art, he shares an interpretation of colors  that goes beyond what the naked eye can see in all that surrounds him. He combines this with his deep respect for the traditional arts and artists like Alphonse Mucha, Lorenzo Bernini, J.C. Leyendecker, William A. Bouguereau, Caravaggio, and Michelangelo among others. In doing so, he creates a form of realism  that he believes brings a subject’s true colors and emotions to the surface for all to experience.

“The true colors of an object is the interpretation of our own experiences in life. My surroundings made me achieve those experiences through the years. Through art, I can capture a moment in time and transform and express it for everyone to see.”

Andrea Starinieri

Andrea Starinieri was born in 1977 in Pescara, Italy. He graduated art school in his hometown before moving to Florence, Italy, to attend the Fine Art Academy. After receiving his degree in 2002, Andrea went on working in a number of art galleries in Florence and Granada, Spain. He actually lives in Pescara with his wife Lara and their two kids. He works as a “Madonnaro” (pavement artist) mostly along Via del Corso in Rome.

Ketty Grossi

Born and raised in Mantua,Italy, Ketty Grossi took a school-leaving certificate in Antique Decorative Arts at the Art Institute in Mantova and in 1997 she graduated in Mantova on Conservation and maintenance of works of art, paintings on canvas, frescos, panel paintings and sculptures in polychrome wood.

Currently, she is a freelancer and is engaged in decoration and restoration, realizing classic and modern decorations, art fakes and personal projects and decorations for private persons, shops, public places and residential estates.

Says Ketty, “As a child my father used to take me each year on 14th of August to see an international competition of pavement paintings in front of the Santuario delle Grazie di Curtatone (Mantova) in which every artist has to propose a religious representation made with chalk colours.

“I  was so fascinated I [wanted to wanted  to try and become myself an artist of this ephemeral and ancient painting technique.”

She is a co-founder of Centro Culturale Artisti Madonnari (Madonnari artists cultural centre).

She  took part in various exhibitions and she performed in several Street Art events all over the world winning awards in Italy becoming Maestra Madonnara, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Germany,Denmark, Florida, California, Texas, Russia and Mexico.

Her chalk work is also featured in the books:

  • ‘Sidewalk Canvas’ by Julie Kirk Purcell – London 2011
  • ‘ The Art of Chalk’ by Tracy Lee Stum – Rockport Publishers 2016

She had the honor to help some days the crew that created the largest anamorphic 3D street pavement piece, brooking the Guinness World Record!The Guinness Book 3D installation took place at the Venice Municipal Airport Festival Grounds.

Carlos Alberto GH

Carlos Alberto GH is an artist  from Guadalajara, Mexico who was introduced to street art by his sister, Adry del Rocío, with whom he frequently collaborates. They have participated in international street painting and mural expositions all over the world including in the United States, Cuba, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia and at home in Mexico. Carlos is a former archaeological restorer on the Mayan peninsula.

Erik Greenawalt

By day, Erik Greenawalt is a CPA (the boring debits and credits type) working in corporate finance for a large Pittsburgh-based grocery chain. But on weekends, he puts on his other CPA hat – Chalk Professional Artist — and adds life to driveways, streets and sidewalks from New York to Florida. Erik’s interest in chalk art began about a decade ago when doodling in the driveway with his then-toddlers, Jaycie and Jenna. Crude stick figures began morphing into more-sophisticated Disney princesses and, last year, 3D renderings of Olaf and Emmet the Lego Man. He became known in the neighborhood as “The Chalking Dad” – and the name has stuck. He still takes most of his drawing orders from his daughters (who sometimes chalk alongside him at festivals), which results in fun, colorful pieces — and not just cartoons anymore. You can follow his work at instagram.com/TheChalkingDad.

Katie Better

Katie Better is a native of Maryland and has been chalking since 2012. She is inspired by animation, wildlife, art history and public art. Her first community arts project was “Traum Baum” an interactive sculpture collaboration exhibited at the BMA in Baltimore. She’s been working in video games for 5 years and currently lives in New York as a senior motion capture animator for Rockstar Games. She lives by “Take chances, make mistakes, and GET MESSY!”

Check out Katie’s work at www.katiebetter.com

Anthony Cappetto and Wendy Stum

Anthony Cappetto is an internationally recognized 3D street painting artist working in chalk and paint who shares his art form throughout the USA and internationally including India, UAE, Japan, Uruguay, Germany, Mexico, and Italy. Cappetto has been a guest of the US State Department in South America, lecturing and mentoring University students in Montevideo, Uruguay, as well as students in South Carolina, Georgia, and New York.  An early adopter/pioneer in the use of 4D emerging technologies since 2007 such as augmented and virtual reality as an integrated part of his 3D anamorphic illusions Cappetto has created public 3D/4D installations in Mumbai, India, Florida, South Carolina, and California.

Cappetto was invited and participated as part of a select group of world class 3D street painters for the first Dubai Canvas Festival in 2015 and has been a team member of two Sistine Chapel re-creations in California and Mexico.  It is very important to me as a 3D street painter to design and create 3D interactive art where the public can pose with and be in the art when the sizes allow.  I look forward to sharing my 3D art with everyone at the Festival.  artforafterhours.com

Wendy Stum attended her first street panting festival in the late 1990’s and started photographing, then video interviewing the artists at work as a way to share the art form with the public.  Since then, Wendy has assisted Anthony with the chalk art, mentoring, and public interaction at festivals in New York, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, California, Mexico, and the UAE.

KC Linn

KC Linn is a Baltimore based artist who dabbles in illustration, design and typography as well as traditional art forms such as painting and drawing. Growing up in small town Maryland she has always been attracted to visual stimulation of all shapes, sizes and colors. Her creative adventure began after her 12th birthday when she received a blank skateboard deck and transformed it into the first piece of merchandise for her new business. Mastering skateboard design at age 12 lead to a creative obsession that unknowingly shaped her future.
KC attended Shepherd University where she participated in college athletics and studied painting. In her senior year she joined the Navy where she was a Hospital Corpsman for four years. During this time KC’s creative exposure was elevated through world travel and exposure to new experiences. From bootcamp to her last day in the Navy she continuously contributed her skills to multiple projects and was responsible for numerous logo designs, t-shirt, poster and flyer graphics.
KC has exhibited in numerous galleries across the United States as well as abroad including The French Embassy Art Gallery in Saõ Tomé Africa, Walter Reed Wounded Warrior Memorial in Bethesda Maryland, Red Brick Gallery and Phaze 2 Gallery in West Virginia, The Grotto Cafe in Cave Creek Arizona and Spur Gallery in Baltimore, MD. She has done logo design for Stevenson University as well as store graphics for Lululemon. Her illustrative work and paintings depict visual narrations from her past military experience juxtaposed with contemporary culture depicted through parallel realities. She is motivated by daily visions and experiences. Using obscure line work, luminous color palettes, questionable lyric and/or sarcasm, she wants her viewers to feel the same temporary relinquishment from generic life. Her biggest influences are Jessica Hische, Mike Perry, Chipp Kidd and Mr. Bingo. KC currently resides and works in Baltimore Maryland.

Barbara Epstein Gruber

A native of Baltimore, Barbara Epstein Gruber attended Catonsville Community College, received a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, studied in the graduate fine arts program at the University of Pennsylvania and earned her MFA from Brooklyn College. Her work can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the US, Europe and the UK and has been featured in numerous local and national publications. Ms. Gruber’s work has won Best in Show and Honorable Mention at national and regional levels by such esteemed jurors as Klauss Kertess of the Whitney Museum, Bernard Chaet, Samuel Hoi, George Gurney of the Smithsonian and Doreen Bolger of the BMA. She is currently an instructor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, The Johns Hopkins University and The Yellow Barn. Most recently, she was a finalist for the William and Trafford Klots residency in Brittany, France.  Ms. Gruber’s work has appeared in the New York Times Art Review, New American Paintings, The Baltimore Urbanite, and the covers of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, The Huntington Arts Review and the Baltimore Messenger and been featured in videos for The Loudoun Times Mirror. Her work can be seen in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, Washington, D.C., Europe and the UK and she is represented in galleries in Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, California and Virginia. Ms. Gruber has been a guest juror for noted arts organizations and is frequently invited to participate in arts fundraisers. Barbara Gruber is currently an instructor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Johns Hopkins University, The Yellow Barn and The Griffin Art Center. She has taught at Anne Arundel Community College, Stevenson University and Howard Community College.

Shelley Brenner

Shelley Brenner discovered street painting several years ago through a local chalk art competition in her hometown of Chelsea, Michigan. Since that time she has participated in a variety of chalk events throughout the Midwest and has enjoyed sharing her love of chalk art as a featured artist. A lifelong artist, Shelley began her higher education with a fine arts scholarship at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Today she works as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in Lansing, MI.

Dave Brenner

Born and raised in the Land of the Midnight Sun, Dave Brenner hails from Fairbanks, Alaska and currently resides with his chalk artist wife, Shelley Brenner, in Chelsea Michigan. He holds a BFA with a concentration in painting and a BA in theater from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks. He is now the Creative Director at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. His fine art and photography has been featured at multiple venues throughout Alaska and the Midwest. Dave discovered that his dual passions for painting and acting translated seamlessly into street painting. He loves to bring images to life in large scale while engaging with interested passersby.

Shelley and Dave Brenner (@apigmentchalkart)

Bridget "BK" Lyons

Bridget “BK” Lyons is a Florida Artist who focuses on colors in her paintings. That love of color has become a staple in her choices for street painting.  Over the years, she has moved on from flat, bright images to develop her passion for colors and just how far she can push the limits.  Her style continues to evolve in street painting, by her mixed use of carefully selected reproductions and inspired original pieces. Aside from street painting, BK also enjoys photography and painting in acrylics.

Social Media:  Twitter:@chalkdirtytome Instagram:chalk_dirty Facebook:chalk dirty to me

Paul Mericle

Paul Mericle is a painter, sculptor, and Muralist who lives and works in Baltimore MD. His work, a mix of abstract and realism, revolves around the interaction between humans and nature.  His sculptural work often uses found objects and discarded material from his surrounding environment. Through breaking down trash/recyclables and creating new imagery, he creates a new context for the material.

He has created Murals throughout Baltimore, DC, Virginia, New York, Florida, California, Argentina, Chile, and Germany. Mericle has also been teaching Middle and High school in Baltimore City since 2008, where he started the “one Piece Project” alongside his students. You can find more info on him and his work, or to be part of his collaborative project “Recalibration” by visiting paulmericle.com.

fb.com/artistpaulmericle

ig and twitter @pataphysic

info@paulmericle.com

Holland Winslow

Holland Winslow is passionate about color and expresses this through her vibrant and deep hues in her artwork. She graduated from East Carolina University with numerous art awards and scholarships along the way. She lives in Williamsburg, VA where she is a full time graphic designer for the Commonwealth of VA and owns a small business “Hollandesigns,” which focuses in graphic design, streetpainting and murals.

Holland started street painting in 2007. In 2008, she won Best in Show for her “Koi Fish” and many more awards have followed. Since then, she has “taken to the streets” with her chalking, traveling for competitions and commissions, working in both 3D and 2d installations. Through streetpainting, she has gained friends from all over the world and coming together at events is so rewarding and life is like a box of pastels!

Docta Toonz

Docta Toonz was born Donald A Tyson El in Baltimore, MD. As a child, while watching his father draw and paint, he picked it up naturally, as early as the age of 2. By the time he was old enough to go to school, his mother placed him in art classes and competitions to enhance his skill. As a teenager, art would be a way of expression or communication to his peers. He and his peers were particulary into the culture of hip hop. He quoted a statement as a teen, “This is not how I draw, this is How I write,… I draw from the creator within.”

Sara Mellissa Wenger

Sara Mellissa Wenger is an artist based in New York City. She has her Master’s of Art in Art Education. A lifelong advocate of all art forms and public education, she finds nothing more enjoyable than working with her students and seeing their voices heard in their art. Currently, she works as an art teacher at a public school in the South Bronx. Sara became curious about chalk art when she participated in the Hudson Valley Chalk Festival in 2013. There she met numerous artists who took her under their wings, and showed her the wonders of chalk painting. Being a chalk artist has given her the opportunity to travel to different states where she is able to engage with the people and express how important and valuable the arts are for communities.

Ken Mullen

Ken Mullen has been chalking on pavement for almost half of his life.  Whether working alone, with his children, or as half of the “Chalk Guys,” he loves to zone out and get lost in the zen of street painting under a pair of headphones.  A lifelong music lover, he takes pride in the fact that he hooked both his daughters on the Beatles at an early age.  The fab four became a source of artistic inspiration as well, as the subject of a number of his paintings, along with other musicians such as Tom Waits and Keith Richards.  As half of the Chalk Guys, along with Hector Diaz, Ken has enjoyed the opportunity to travel and meet fellow artists, while creating many large and whimsical 3D chalk paintings.  He hopes to continue the fun, and share his love of street painting for years to come.  http://www.mellowmonkeyart.com

Jesse LuBera

Jesse LuBera is a native of northern Pennsylvania, where he has worked as a Senior Designer in the advertising industry for over a decade. Jesse is an accomplished graphic and traditional artist whose personal work in branding and illustration has been featured in publications and galleries both locally and internationally. A self-taught artist, his work ranges from digital, charcoal, oils, muralwork, and most recently chalk. He took interest in street art in 2015 after visiting a local festival in Elmira, New York, in which he has since placed second and been awarded best of show. Jesse is in love with color both subtle and vibrant, and creating images that make an impact. He is most inspired by nature, where he spends much of his time backpacking, observing and learning.

Jean E. Razulis

Ms. Jean E. Razulis is an artist currently using acrylic paint on stretched canvas to create large, bold, colorful figurative works of art.  An underlying theme of her work is the energy of life. As a child, Jean studied oil painting and pastels at the Randallstown Fine Arts Academy.  On a full Seagram’s Scholarship, Ms. Razulis earned a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts at the University of Maryland.  She later attained an MFA from the Mt Royal School at MICA.  Ms. Razulis has displayed her work at local, regional and national venues, including the Palm Springs Desert Museum where she won the Chavant Award.  She has created commissioned pieces for businesses and groups, including Crabtown Project crab  sculptures for the University of Baltimore and Loyola University.

Hector Diaz

A native of Florida, Hector Diaz began many years ago as a self taught artist.  Much of what he has learned has come from his interaction with and observations of other great artists he has met throughout his career. As a street artist, Hector’s preferred medium is chalk and as part of the “Chalk Guys” duo, he has created many 2D and 3D paintings for festivals and commercial clients alike.  Hector also creates murals and has a successful Graphics Design business catering to several regional and national clients.

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Vann Garz

Born in Mexico City, residing between Guanajuato MX and California USA. Vann Garz started painting since he was 8 years old, but after studying advertising design he stopped practicing some of the arts, but thanks to the 2015 Madonnari festival, his passion was reignited. He enjoys interacting with people, to cause them a moment of happiness when they see the art he is creating. He really enjoys those moments. Also, He likes to see how children get so excited about  chalk art. Art for Vann Garz is a way of expression that brings people of the world closer to each other.

Katie Bush

Katie Bush is an artist born and raised in Atlanta, GA. She received both her BFA and MAEd in Art Education. She began chalking in 2013 and has won multiple awards for her creations. In 2015, she became a freelance chalk artist and launched Aqua Aura Chalk Designs, where she can be hired for street paintings, hands-on chalk demos, chalks for retail spaces and corporate events, restaurant menus, and more. In her spare time, she loves to practice yoga, skydive, travel, and cook vegan food.  http://www.atlantachalkartist.com/

Sharyn Chan

Sharyn Chan Namnath is a unique blend of scientist, artist, hip-hop dancer, and a motorcycle racer. Currently she works as a street artist and hip hop dance instructor as well as a government contract project manager. She has always loved art, but her career path took a different turn in college where she graduated with a computer science degree and stayed in that field for 30+ years. She dabbled in the artistic side of computers diving into Photoshop and graphic arts on the side, but, it was not until she met world-class street painter Tracy Lee Stum in 2001 that she learned about the ancient art form of street painting. Rekindling her passion for art, Sharyn began street painting in her hometown of Santa Barbara and has traveled all over the world with Tracy street painting to her heart’s content.  http://www.sharynchanart.com

Sebastian Sears

Sebastian Sears is a Baltimore-based artist focusing on themes of disassociation, technological sentience and the unlikeliness of being. In addition to creating several murals, his artwork has also been exhibited at Maryland Art Place, the Creative Alliance and Gallery 788. Sears is also a frequent contributor to local theater productions.

Daniel Stuelpnagel

Daniel Stuelpnagel has participated in more than 100 exhibitions from coast to coast, primarily involving geometric abstractions and spectacular portrayals of the Aquasphere.

TOVEN

TOVEN is a Baltimore native who began writing graffiti at age 15. He moved to New York City to attend NYU where he discovered the wider world of street art of downtown Manhattan. He has brought the influences of graffiti, street art, and illustration back to Baltimore where he divides his time between art on the streets and street inspired art in galleries.

Alex Fine

Alex Fine was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Upon graduating from MICA in 2004, he decided to stay in Baltimore where today he lives and works as a freelance illustrator. Alex’s clients include Time Magazine, Newsweek, WIRED, Boston Globe, Washington Post, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Observer, and he has a weekly column that he illustrates for the Baltimore City Paper. His style reflects influences of vintage comic books, 90’s rock posters, and various eras of editorial illustration.  alexfine.com

Chloe Elswick

Chloe Elswick was raised in the DC area and moved to Baltimore in 2000 to attend MICA, where she mainly studied drawing and photography. Since graduating, she has done architectural model building, sign painting, CAD drafting, laser cutting, chalkboard art, and some unplanned woodworking. Her art is influenced by astronomy, architecture, planetary science, and shiny things.

 

MARTHA SIMONS

Martha Simons is a graduate of Indiana University where she majored in Fine Art, specializing in Painting and Textile Design.  As a student, she utilized her fiber crafting skills by working as a costume designer for the opera.

Upon moving to Baltimore, Martha truly embraced mixed media in collaborative and public venues.  She designed and wrote a crochet symphony in which each participant learns one simple stitch and passes the work to create a more complex final project.  Long before yarn bombing became the rage, Martha was installing her free range doilies – hand crocheted cotton mandalas affixed to abandoned row houses – to create spots of beauty and to encourage people to wake up and look around.  Her most recent fiber creation is the embodiment of a 4 foot tall crocheted Kali, the goddess of Creation and Destruction.

She is known as the “chalk lady” by kids and adults in her southeast Baltimore neighborhood who meet every Wednesday night to create sidewalk drawings within a weekly theme.  In addition to enjoying the creative act of making something beautiful – just for the joy of it – sidewalk art also teaches the lesson of non-attachment since the colorful creations are washed away by the rain within days, or sometimes minutes, of their creation.

Martha has surprised patrons of a local watering hole with “Pop Up Ping Pong Table Craft Nights”, featuring low-brow printmaking and mixed media Valentines and  she designed a collaborative process titled “Pass the Hat” – origami hats folded by small groups in public venues.  She has also orchestrated hands on “Art to Dine For” fund raisers for the Creative Alliance including 3D “Guide Birds” sculpted from the East Baltimore Guide newspapers.

Martha moderated a group of local artists who met monthly to “Make Something”.  She surprised them each month with a new “thing” (an emptied, flattened and ironed teabag, a discarded mint tin, a left over bathroom tile . . .) and challenged them to come back to the next session with the new and altered “thing” that they have made.  She also posed a new question for the group each month, such as “What natural phenomenon do you most closely resemble?”

Much of Martha’s personal work reflects her commitment to veganism in the interest of treating animals, the earth and our bodies with love and compassion. Examples can be found at www.StelladogCreations.com  or on her Facebook page Martha Simons-Stelladog Creations.

Keri Lounge Lombardo

Keri Lounge Lombardo  is a graphic designer, painter, and street artist who lives and works on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Born in Baltimore and raised in Pasadena, she is a local Maryland artist who is influenced by the shore life and eclectic happenings in the city of this beautiful state. After receiving a scholarship to play softball at the University of Maryland College Park, she graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology. Studying movement of the body furthered her understanding of illustration and encouraged her to move forward with her art career. She completed a B.A. from Salisbury University with a concentration in Graphic Design where she received a number of awards. Currently, she designs for an apparel company while also exhibiting her colorful works of art in galleries on the Eastern Shore.

To view more of Keri’s work please visit, www.klkreatives.com.

Andrea Carlson

Before Andrea Carlson earned her degree in classical guitar at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, she was a fine art major at Columbia College (Chicago). She has continued to create art in a wide variety of mediums — sculpture, painting, pottery, and drawing. Her favorite souvenirs are now the plein air “sketches” she does in between concerts and music making. Her growing sketchbook contains street scenes of many European cites and towns, as well as her current home town, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Andrea is an award winning composer, guitarist, singer, and band leader of “Andrea Carlson and the Love Police!” She began touring Europe with her music in 2013 and has changed her itinerary each year, to include Paris, Lyon, Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva, Berlin, Prague, Bratislava, Florence, Barcelona, London, and Edinburgh. This August she will perform for the 4th consecutive year in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, at “The Jazz Bar” for a 5 night engagement, and at other venues in the city!

The stars will align for her in Baltimore when she performs with her “Love Police” at “Cabaret at Germano’s” in the heart of Little Italy on Friday, September 8th.  Andrea will showcase her chalk painting by day on Saturday and Sunday, September 9th and 10th.

Graham Curtis

Graham Curtis began streetpainting 17 years ago, at the newly formed “Italian” Street Painting Festival as part of the annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College PA.  He has been a featured artist over the past several years.  He has taken part in Festivals in Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, New York and Georgia.  While he favors realism, portraiture and the “classical” styles, he also creates “3D” Anamorphic pieces which are fun and challenging.

Graham grew up in the UK.  As a child he remembers seeing street artists (screevers) doing wonderful miniature reproductions on the pavement outside the National Gallery in London.  Like so many children, seeing what can be accomplished with chalk was fascinating.  One of his favorite delights 50 years on, is the interaction, while working on hands and knees, with the little ones who stop to look.

The nature of this artform is delightful.  The process allows the viewer to witness each artist’s technique.  The temporary nature of the art, the comradery of the artists at streetpainting events is unique and a very rewarding experience.

Concordia Preparatory School

Concordia Preparatory School strives to  inspire its students to find broad, personal, unique and interdisciplinary solutions to whatever problem they choose to attack. “We want our students to get their hands dirty…” and we can’t think of a more fitting project than the art of the Madonnari.  The team of students who will participate include Hannah Beasman, Abby Stephens, Cat Regan, Victoria Dodge, Jonathan Davis, Janiya Foreman, Jarrod Connell, Lyla Martin, Avion Brooks, Megan Chojnacki and Logan Corbin under the direction of art instructors, Marcie Barth and Martha Bainbridge.

Baltimore School for the Arts

The BSA Visual Arts curriculum, under the direction of Archie Veale,  is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in basic skills and techniques as well as the means with which to think and talk about art. In the first two years students are introduced to a wide variety of media and techniques as well as the dynamics of composition. Upper level students build upon skills and techniques learned previously and are encouraged to experiment and discover a vehicle for personal expression.  Students gain a strong sense of professionalism through experiences in the school and in the art community, locally and regionally and acquire the skills necessary to produce portfolios aimed at gaining access to scholarships and the best art colleges.  Participating in this year’s Festival are Yvette Emberson, Jordan Lisicky, Sequoia Jean-Gilles Joseph and Marisa Guy.