Creative...

Entertaining...

Artistic...

Collaborative... 

Unique!

Winner 2007 "ICKY" Award for Best Festival 

2008 Chalk the Walk Artist Application

2008 Grid Artist Application

The Mount Vernon Parks and Recreation Department and the Mount Vernon Area Arts Council have announced joint sponsorship of a unique Madonnari Festival.

Chalk the Walk, awarded Best Festival of 2007 by the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance, will be held in downtown Mount Vernon Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Iowa’s only Madonnari Festival presents the work of more than 200 artists utilizing a street as a canvas and more than a quarter ton of chalk. All participants can contribute to a massive 2,800-square-foot recreation of “A Bold Bluff,” a.k.a “Dogs Playing Poker.” California Madonnari artist Dawn Morrison Wagner will create a 12x12-foot recreation of an Italian Renaissance painting. UnStaged, a series of performances around town, occurs simultaneously.

Chalk the Walk is based on an original art form that began in Italy in the 16th century.  Called Madonnari, this form of public art was originally done by street artists hoping to collect coins from passersby. Images back then were based on religious themes, and as the Madonna was a popular subject, the artists became known as the “Madonnari.”

Although these festivals have become very popular in the U.S. in the last few decades, particularly in California, this is the largest Madonnari festival in Eastern Iowa.  The co-sponsors of the event have secured the talents of professional Madonnari artist Dawn Morrison Wagner from California who will be creating a 12’ by 12’ chalk recreation of an Italian Renaissance painting. In addition, several other professional artists will be creating 10’ by 12’ chalk images as well.

Event producers are also utilizing hundreds of local people to create a massive 2800-square-foot recreation of  a yet to be determined painting.  Each person will be responsible for creating a single 2’ by 2’ square of the chosen painting, and when finished, the chalk drawing will appear as a giant quilt, colored with pastel chalk by artists of all abilities.

“I see this as an inclusive festival that brings together all ages and types of people and all levels of artists,” says event coordinator Craig Wilson. “Imagine a beautiful spring day in Iowa with hundreds of community members from all walks of life gathering together to work on a single collaborative piece of art. That is Mount Vernon’s Chalk the Walk.”

In addition to the artwork, there will be strolling musicians, food vendors and sponsorship booths. Applications for both artists and sponsors are available through the Mount Vernon Parks and Recreation Department.

Historic Mount Vernon, Iowa, is the home to 4171 residents and 1200 college students enrolled at Cornell College with its unique one-course-at-a-time academic calendar.  Located in Eastern Iowa at the intersection of Highways 20 and 1, 20 miles north of Iowa City and 15 miles east of Cedar Rapids, it boasts a vibrant uptown business community with numerous antique and specialty stores, restaurants, coffee houses, commercial art galleries, and three National Historic Districts.

Don't miss the fun - send in your application or attend this unique festival!