City, volunteers may add to list of annual festivals if public
response at Taste is a guide
Taste of Morgan Hill weekend launched two festivals that might just become reality, if the public’s response says anything – and it does.
Proponents of a Poppy Jasper Film Festival hung out all weekend at the Community Playhouse, telling people how Morgan Hill could build on San Jose’s Cinequest Film Festival by bringing the films and their artists to town. People liked the idea of Morgan Hill being the new Cannes or Sundance.
Artistically oriented volunteers and city staffers spent the weekend explaining Italian street painting to gauge interest in reproducing a festival that draws up to 60,000 visitors to San Rafael. There was.
City of Morgan Hill analyst Jay Jaso and volunteer Rosemary Rideout took up the charge for street painting, which actually is street chalking. The artists use pastel crayons to reproduce paintings by well-known artists, or their own work.
Jaso collected response cards from the public as they watched several artists work away, sketching the picture’s outline, then coloring in the shadings and, finally, Sunday evening, standing up to admire the finished product.
“A first, quick look shows overwhelmingly positive response,” Jaso said. “They used words like: grand, unique, very impressive, incredible, wonderful and fantastic.”
Jaso said they received about 260 response cards with more than 90 percent giving the festival top rating – Very Good and Awesome. “The ‘awesome’ far outnumbered the ‘very good,’” he said.
Many people encouraged finding a way to preserve the delicate paintings that will decorate the sidewalk in front of the Monterey Road side of the community center, between the flag poles, until foot traffic, dew or lawn sprinklers wash them away.
Other people left their names and contact information, offering to help bring similar art experiences to the community and, of special interest, to introduce children to art, Jaso said.
Some comments on Italian Street Painting:
• Esta mui bonito El Centro de Recreation y las pinturas mui lindas. Lo bibo en Gilroy pero me gusta much Morgan Hill. (The Recreation Center is very beautiful and the pictures very pretty. I live in Gilroy but I very much like Morgan Hill).
• I’m surprised and delighted at the quality of this art, I like it. (A lot of times art in this way is not as good as this)
• This is a beautiful idea. It is live, educational and interactive. This definitely (is) a way to maintain and upgrade Morgan Hill’s worthiness and interest to the public.
• San Jose has dropped their Italian Festival two or three years ago. What an opportunity to have a wonderful festival with good food, music, grape sampling and this awesome art in Morgan Hill.
• Wow!
• I think art is a clean and positive part of life. It should be shown more often.
• Great program for the community to involve schools and artists.
• This is incredible. Would like to see more of this. Need art classes for kids in town.
• Would be nice to have music, dress attire, crafts, wine and games – all Italian.
The street painting exhibit was co-sponsored by the local Sister City Committee, which fostered a sister city relationship with San Casciano, in Italy’s Tuscany region.
STREET PAINTING?
Street painting and pavement artists have a long tradition in Europe, dating back to the 16th century, where the painters were dubbed “madonnari,” or, Madonna painters. This refers to the chalk reproductions they would do of The Madonna for traditional religious and folk festivals.
The first modern-day Street Painting Festival, Centro Italiano Madonnari, began in 1973 and is now held annually in the village of Grazie di Curtatone, Italy. This tradition has seen a revival in Italy, and has in recent years also captured the imagination of artists in California where several cities – including Santa Barbara, San Rafael, and San Luis Obispo – hold annual Italian Street Painting Festivals. San Rafael’s 10th annual event earlier this year attracted a record turnout of more than 60,000 visitors.
A madonnari artist applies pastel chalk to pavement to produce temporary masterpieces – wondrous in their size, detail, and rich color – for the public to enjoy. It’s a performance, as well as a visual, art. The madonnari are a select fraternity of unique artists captivated by this particular art form. Their finished work of larger-than-life chalk reproductions is temporary, and are washed away or allowed to fade naturally over a short period.
Part fine art, part performance, the madonnari demonstrate the process, focus and commitment required to complete a work of art within a small window of time. Rosemary Rideout, who worked with the city to coordinate the exhibit and selected the six participating artists, described what attracts these artists to their temporary reproductions of masterpieces.
“The artists say that most especially gratifying for them is the response of young people, many of whom are being introduced to the process of fine art – and the masters – for the first time. In return they, as artists, receive the satisfaction of being able to share the process in a public venue for people of all ages.”
In San Rafael’s case, hundreds of school children participate in demonstrations months before the actual event, and then are allowed to help with various parts of the paintings. In the process, they are introduced to art masterpieces in a hands-on way that might never be possible through traditional classroom lectures.
Jaso said Morgan Hill children of appropriate skills and ages would most definitely be involved from the early stages of a picture’s planning and execution.
The Italian Street Painting Exhibition’s six artists ranged from relative novices – three high school students from San Luis Obispo – to Ann Hefferman of Santa Barbara, an award-winning artist who has more than 15 years of street painting experience. Hefferman recreated Caravaccio’s “Basket of Fruit” for the exhibition.
The Sister City Committee’s donation sponsored one painted squares being dedicated to San Casciano, and the Committee will be designated as a “founding sponsor” if a full-blown festival emerges. Other sponsors include Guglielmo Winery, Pedrizzetti Winery, El Toro Brewery, Associated Concrete, Sycamore Concrete, The Inn at Morgan Hill and EDO Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems Inc. (formerly Condor).
Jaso said EDO’s new CEO, Don Newsome, called him up “out of the blue” and offered to help. The Newsomes had just moved to town from Kentucky and wanted to find a way into the heart and soul of the city. Besides sponsoring a painting, EDO also made Saturday evening’s artists’ reception possible.
“The artists all said they have seldom been treated so well by such friendly, helpful people,” Jaso said.
Residents, artists, local businesses, and corporations interested in this art form, and also in helping organize or sponsor a future Italian Street Painting Festival Sponsor can contact Rosemary Rideout at ri*********@***oo.com.
FILM FESTIVAL
The Poppy Jasper Film Festival exhibit also collected a stack of positive responses from the Taste exhibit. The festival is the brainchild of Bill Leaman, a long-time community supporter of visual/media arts and public access television, and former president of the Media Access Coalition of Central California which operates local Channel 19.
As festivals go, there’s the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; Cannes in France; and locally, Cinequest in San Jose. But only in Morgan Hill can there be a Poppy Jasper Film Fest, as this is the only known place in the world where the reddish, burnished gemstone is found. Festival backers plan to offer awards made from or including a piece of the rock.
Leaman explained why such a film festival might work in Morgan Hill.
“There are many fine films that don’t make the cut at larger film festivals, yet are still creative, talent-driven pieces. Anyone who creates a film wants public exposure for his or her work. So why not make Morgan Hill one of the venues for this desired exposure while helping to raise funds for visual arts in Morgan Hill, and even scholarships for high school students pursuing filmmaking careers?”
The Film Fest committee, headed up by local resident, Kim Bush, is already planning to promote the film festival idea. A local jeweler is interested in becoming the official “Poppy Jasper jeweler,” and the owners of the El Toro Brewery have suggested their Poppy Jasper Beer as, perhaps, the official drink.
Bush is enthusiastic about the festival.
“By crafting the film awards from poppy jasper, we not only give the winners something that no other community has, but also leave in their hands a reminder of the uniqueness of Morgan Hill!”
A large, museum-quality piece of poppy jasper can be seen in a presentation case opposite the front desk at the Morgan Hill Community Center, Monterey Road at East Dunne Avenue.
Residents, filmmakers, and businesses in helping organize or sponsor the Poppy Jasper Film Fest can contact Kim Bush at in**@*****************st.com
— Jay Jaso and Rosemary Rideout contributed to this story
