CHALK TALK : Fullerton’s Festa dell’ Arte Hopes to Give Would-Be Graffiti Artists a Better Way to Express Themselves

Janet Young, an Anaheim mother of two, has a unique response to the county’s graffiti problem.

Let ‘em use chalk.

Young is co-chairman of the second annual Festa dell’ Arte, a public street-painting festival to be held at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday and Sunday. A fund-raiser for the YWCA of North Orange County and the CSUF Art Alliance, the event will feature 150 professional and amateur artists transforming a parking lot into a horizontal gallery of colorful works in pastels and chalk.

The way Young sees it, the medium, first seen in 16th-Century Italy, is a viable alternative for would-be graffiti artists.

“This is something where you can let kids use their creative energy on a surface that can’t be harmed,” Young said. “Chalk on blacktop can be removed easily; spray paint on a wall can’t.”

Though their exhibition time is short (volunteers will hose away the works on Monday), street-painters walk away with a more enduring prize: the encouragement and praise of onlookers.

“Street-painting really is a performance art,” said Young, who admits her own skills are limited to sidewalk doodles with her two youngsters. “The artist gets immediate interaction with an audience. For artists to hear, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful!’ while they’re working is very encouraging.”

And, she added, the benefits are just as great for viewers, especially children.

“This is an ideal way to expose children to art in an unintimidating atmosphere,” Young said. “You wouldn’t normally take a small child to a museum or gallery, but here they can see artists doing museum-quality works right on the pavement.”

According to Festa organizers, street painting got its start with roving artists creating colorful images on the streets during early Italian festivals and religious occasions. The Madonna (the original, not the pop-rock star) was a favorite subject; thus, the artists earned the name i madonnari, or the Madonna painters. The tradition continues in the Italian village of Grazie di Curtatone, home of the International Street Painting Festival.

Festa organizers patterned their own event after I Madonnari, a popular festival at Mission Santa Barbara. Artists will work on pavement squares ranging from 6-by-5 feet to 8-by-12 feet, each sponsored by local businesses and individuals. Young hopes to gross about $19,000 in sponsorships and food sales from the event.

Participants in the Festa range from professional artists, such as Janice DeLoof and Anthony Trasport (featured artist at last year’s event), to week end dabblers, business teams, senior citizens and area school groups. A group of CSUF art students will honor artist and longtime art leader Florence Arnold, 91, of Fullerton with a re-creation of one of her abstracts.

Last May, Festa organizers helped bring together what may be one of this weekend’s most creative teams. Ten youngsters from the Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood near Disneyland were selected during a street-painting event at a dedication of Audre Plaza, a local park. At the Festa, the youths will work alongside Matthew Mew, a professional illustrator and Disneyland consultant, to create a large mural of Disney characters. And featured artist Scott Fitzgerald, best known for his copper-plate etchings and who has recently begun working in oils, will create a large pastoral scene in which the viewer seems to be peering out from boughs of a tree.

Artists are free to choose whatever topic they wish for their works, said Young, adding that last year’s event included everything from mythological creatures to intricate re-creations of famous art.

“A real good street-painting pulls you down into the drawing,” Young said. “People try to give (the work) a three-dimensional feeling that gives them depth, like a pond you’re looking down into . . . or a staircase leading down into a cellar with the big bad wolf coming up.”

For $10, viewers can take chalk in hand and create their own mini-murals. Children’s squares measuring 10-by-10 inches and boxes of chalk will be available to the public on both festival days.

Festa dell’ Arte will also feature an Italian-themed marketplace where visitors can buy regional goodies such as roasted sausages, meatball sandwiches, antipastos, gelatos and Italian coffees. The Cal State Fullerton jazz combo, the CSUF guitar ensemble, a barbershop quartet, a strolling accordion player and costumed jugglers will entertain on both days.

What: Festa dell’ Arte.

When: Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5 and 6, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Cal State Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd.

Whereabouts: From the Orange (57) Freeway, exit Nutwood Avenue. Travel west to State College Boulevard and turn right to the Festa entrance. Park in Lot D off State College Boulevard.

Wherewithal: Admission is free.

Where to call: (714) 671-4488.