Youth in Arts would like to thank all the people who have expressed their thoughts and feelings about the Italian Street Painting Festival in recent days.

Last summer, an article appeared in the IJ that this year’s Festival would not take place, explaining that economics were a major factor in that decision. This is still true today. We would love to continue producing the Festival. Unfortunately, the major sponsorships required have not been secured to assure the Festival can be produced in 2012 at the same level of quality and scale. Youth in Arts is a nonprofit organization. We are unable to subsidize the Festival without cutting back our vital year-round programs working directly with teachers and students in the schools, the core of our work.

Generous sponsors, volunteers, amazing artists and community members made it possible to produce the Festival for 17 years. We are forever grateful to the thousands of people who enabled us bring the joy of this Festival to San Rafael, as well as provide funds for our programs.

Going forward, we envision a new summer event continuing with our mission of working with young people and their school communities. We imagine a celebration of students’ work that may include next generation street painting, exciting 3-D art forms, projections and interactive performances. We need key sponsors and lead volunteers to realize this vision.

Would you like to be a part of a new summer event in 2012? We invite you to participate!

The Youth in Arts Italian Street Painting Festival

Using chalk as the medium and the street as the canvas, Youth in Arts introduced the first Italian Street Painting Festival to northern California in 1994. The event, held in downtown San Rafael, helped trigger a wave in the street painting world. Over the next decade, this performance art form captivated the world and is now showcased on almost every continent and throughout the Internet. Many artists who got their start at our Festival are now leaders in the street painting field. The Youth in Arts Italian Street Painting Festival became one of the most popular street painting events, and helped propel artists to new levels of creativity and achievement.