News Release - April 15, 2002

News Release

April 15, 2002

I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival rescheduled for October 5-6

The I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival, which normally takes place in the San Luis Obispo Mission Plaza during the last weekend of April, has been rescheduled for the weekend of October 5 and 6, according to an announcement by the Children’s Creative Project (CCP).

CCP has produced the I Madonnari Italian Festival in San Luis Obispo for 10 years to raise funds for its arts education programs in San Luis Obispo County schools. For the past several months, the CCP has been looking for an organization that would assist with the production of the festival.

The Children’s Creative Project is thrilled to announce that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Central Coast Chapter will take on this role. We are pleased to be working with a professional organization that is supportive of our goals and appreciates our many years of effort to serve students throughout the county with arts education programs,” said Kathy Koury, executive director.

“The street painting festival fundraising proceeds will be shared equally by both nonprofit organizations. This will allow the Children’s Creative Project to continue a 15-year program that has provided arts experiences for students in county schools,” said Koury.

AIA President Jeffrey Emrick was equally enthusiastic. “We think it's a perfect fit for our organization and promoting architecture and the arts on the Central Coast," he said. "We're very excited about cooperating with the Children's Creative Project to continue the I Madonnari tradition."

To maintain the success of the I Madonnari Festival, the full support of the community is needed. Those who wish to participate as street painting sponsors or artists can contact Jeffrey Emrick at 549-8658. More information regarding the festival and how to participate will be released in the near future, and will be posted on the web at www.rain.org/~imadonna.

The festival has raised an average of $15,000 annually in net proceeds. The proceeds fund a $100 Arts Credit offered annually to public schools in the county to help pay for touring artist performance fees. Last year, a total of 24,000 students in 53 county schools experienced 222 cultural performances presented by these touring artist companies.

In addition to the Touring Artist Program, the CCP provides a Resident Artist Program, which has placed professional artists in San Luis Obispo County classrooms since 1987. Last year, San Luis Obispo artists presented 3,568 visual and performing arts workshops for elementary classrooms in 23 county schools.

Established in 1974, the Children’s Creative Project is a nonprofit arts education organization and a program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. The Santa Barbara-based organization and its Executive Director Kathy Koury produced the first street painting festival in the United States 15 years ago at the Santa Barbara Mission. The 16th Santa Barbara I Madonnari Festival is scheduled for the Memorial Day weekend on May 25, 26, and 27, 2002.

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