Reliving a Mediterranean Tradition

Magic is a rare thing in this world. We don’t mean tricks of the pull-this-rabbit-out-of-my-hat variety, but true, air-shimmering magic.

We saw it once, true magic, in a little town on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Over the course of a long, warm night, artisans filled the narrow, hilly streets with enormous designs on cobblestone and asphalt.

The outlines were filled in carefully with flower petals, grass clippings and stones. At dawn, judges solemnly strolled along the sidewalks, making little notations and frowning.

And then, as the full light of morning hit the vivid mosaics, the magic happened: A small marching band of older men in black berets started through the streets, inviting everyone to join them as they kicked and danced their way through the painstaking rendition of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” and other designs. The art became a living thing, vivid petals floating up through the flashing arms and legs and trumpets of the impromptu parade.

Maybe something like this magic will happen next weekend in Long Beach’s Belmont Shore as 2nd Street is taken over by a festival called the Strada di Pitture, Italian for “street of painting.”

The sidewalks, side streets and some parking lots will be taken over by artists who do their work in chalk. About 100 artists, many of them art students from Cal State Long Beach and other schools, will arrive early Saturday to begin work. All through the day, passers-by may inspect the pieces as they take shape on cement and asphalt.

Sunday, judges will come through to look over the pieces and award one of them the top prize of $500 cash.

For those who prefer the more, shall we say, budding artists, a group from the Children’s Museum will also be working in a parking lot.

The shops will remain open, of course, and traffic will continue to flow. But strolling past the chalk creations would certainly be worth leaving the car for a moment.

After the judging is finished, the prizes distributed and the crowds gone home, the chalk art will remain, until wind and trampling feet and rain have worn away the last color.

Strada di Pitture will last all day Saturday and Oct. 17 and is sponsored by the Belmont Shore Business Assn. They plan to bring the festival back every year, on a weekend in mid-October. Information: 434-3066.