Street Painting: Creating a Museum without Walls

The allure of chalk art is undeniable.

Hundreds of muralists participate in the  Pasadena Chalk Festival  each year in what could be termed an “artistic iron man competition,” enduring heat, crowds, hard cement, and a ticking clock to complete their sidewalk masterpieces. Throngs of onlookers enjoy the vitality and color of this simple yet complex art museum without walls. A few days later, poof!  It is gone.

What motivates artists to create this temporary art and why is it so powerful to viewers? Join PMH for a fascinating evening with notable street painters of Los Angeles (including Julio Jimenez, Jessica Edelstein, and Robin Bevan), as they take guests into the Art in the Street exhibition to view examples of their art currently on display and hear stories about each work’s background and inspiration. The discussion, which will begin in Giddings Conference Room before moving into the galleries, will also cover the appeal of this unique art form, its social relevance, and the lure of its temporal nature. In addition, exhibit co-curators Tom Coston and Patricia Hurley, co-founders of the Pasadena Chalk Festival, will take us behind the scenes to learn about the evolution of the Festival over the past 25 years.