The vibrant Santa Barbara tradition, I Madonnari, produced by the Children’s Creative Project, returned this Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-30, 2022, at the Old Mission after two years of going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I Madonnari was started in 1987 by Santa Barbara’s very own Children’s Creative Project founder, Kathy Koury. Inspired by the International Street Painting Competition in the Italian town of Grazie di Curtatone, Koury began I Madonnari as a fundraiser for our arts education programs. The event has catalyzed more than 100 similar festivals in the US, Canada, and Central and South America.

“Street painting is a performance art where the drawings with time will fade due to wind and rain,” shares the Children’s Creative Project website. “Its focus on the creative process rather than the product are at the heart of the Festival and the mission of the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.”