I Madonnari goes to Toba Japan, Santa Barbara's Sister City

In a display of true international fellowship, Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum and eight I Madonnari artists were invited by Santa Barbara’s sister city, Toba, Japan, to help celebrate the city’s 50th anniversary in November by creating street paintings with 70 children and 30 adult artists in Toba, prior to the anniversary celebration.

This was the first time the Italian art of street painting was presented in a festival in Japan. In 1987, the Children’s Creative Project presented Santa Barbara’s I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival as the first festival of its kind in North America. Since then, more than 100 street painting festivals have started in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Our office is proud to manage this program, which has made a large impact in the areas of art appreciation, arts education, and cross-cultural understandings.

The Children’s Creative Project and the Santa Barbara-Toba Sister City Organization worked with the City of Toba for the past year to make this cultural exchange take place. Takako Wakita served as the liaison and coordinator for the sister city organization, and she worked closely with Kathy Koury, executive director of the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit arts education program run through my office.

The invited I Madonnari artists included: Jay Fisher, Tracy Stum, Ann Hefferman, Tomotero Saito, Laura Wilkinson, Blair Looker, Jay Schwartz, and Karen Greenfield. Several of these artists served as featured artists for Santa Barbara’s festival creating street paintings at the base of the Mission’s steps, or they have volunteered to create the largest 12-by-12 feet drawings consistently during the past 15 years.

I have been told that the Santa Barbara artists’ work was well received by Toba residents who were amazed by the quality, scale, and vibrancy of their drawings. The local street painting participants included school children, families, and senior artists in their seventies and eighties who eagerly explored this new medium with great enthusiasm. The Santa Barbara artists also participated in Toba’s anniversary ceremonies, attended a celebration dinner, visited the local aquarium, Mikimoto Pearl Museum, the famous Ise Shinto Shrine, and Ise Village.

The Mayor of Toba, city staff, and volunteers made the artists feel welcome and appreciated. In Toba, families graciously opened their homes to provide hospitality for the artists during their stay. Overall, it was a heartwarming and heart-opening experience for all involved, and many new friends were made during this unique cultural exchange.

We hope Toba will continue to present an annual street painting festival for its community, and that we will be able to send a group to return in one year to participate again and visit the new friends. We also hope people from Toba will visit Santa Barbara.

Koury created the Santa Barbara I Madonnari Festival to benefit the Children’s Creative Project and provided information to help Toba city staff start this first festival in Japan. She presented a digital slideshow, I Madonnari Goes to Japan, at the Toba-Santa Barbara Sister City New Year’s Party and Japanese dinner at the Maravilla Clubhouse in January as well.

Those who deserve thanks for their financial support of the Santa Barbara-Toba street painting cultural exchange include: Renee Castagnola; Martha Clyde; William J. Dalziel & Assoc. Inc.; 7 Day Nursery; Dexign Systems; Joan & David Larsen; KRUZ 103.3 • Magic 97.5 • Oldies 106.3; Haagen Printing; National Charity League; Santa Barbara News-Press; Lisa Soldo; The Santa Barbara Independent.

We appreciate the support for this project; it helps foster the arts internationally and it creates ambassadors for friendship and cross-cultural understanding. Congratulations to all involved.