Marin


Home \|	About \|	Gallery \|	Articles \|	Contact \|	Guestbook \|

			Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA) June 10, 2004 Section: Marin San Rafael Ready To Become A Giant Canvas By Beth Ashley - IJ reporter Just about any type of art - from cartoons to abstracts to pop - will be represented at this weekend's Italian Street Painting Festival. But the centerpiece creation will be one of the world's most recognizable classics: a 16-by-20-foot reproduction of the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci. Cuong Nguyen, who came to the United States from Vietnam jobless in 1991 at age 21, studied at San Francisco State University and became an icon designer for the Yahoo company Web site, will "paint" the "Mona Lisa" in colored chalk on the surface of A Street in downtown San Rafael. He estimates it will take him more than 30 hours over four days. He began sketching yesterday. Most of his work these days consists of digital images for Yahoo, although he also paints oil and pastel portraits of friends and family. But he chose the "Mona Lisa" in tribute to the gifts of da Vinci and because the original painting is celebrating its 500th anniversary! . When festival director and founder Sue Carlomagno of Mill Valley invited him to participate, "I was incredibly honored," Nguyen said. This will be his fourth entry in the San Rafael festival; he has also done street paintings in Utah, San Jose and in Valencia, just north of Los Angeles. His painting will include other famous images by da Vinci, including a scientific drawing ("Vitruvian Man"), "Lady With Ermine," and a self portrait. Nguyen (pronounced "win") will be among 400 artists of many ages and skills who will take part in the festival, painting with chalk on 30,000 square feet of asphalt at Fifth and A streets in front of St. Raphael's Church. The 11th annual event will feature artists from school children to Sunday painters to prize-winning professionals. Like Nguyen, street painter Spence Snyder of Mill Valley plans to reproduce a Renaissance classic, "Allegory of Peace, Art and Abundance" by Hans Van Aachen, a far cry from the! kind of art he does for a living. Snyder, 39, is a commercial and graphic artist who has designed hundreds of products for the toy and gift market, as well as posters for the Philadelphia Zoo, T-shirts for Greenpeace, CD covers, educational workbooks, kiddie backpacks, lunch bags, Internet icons and watches. He has participated in the Marin festival since 1994 and has been a featured painter at similar festivals in San Diego, Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara. He will be assisted in this weekend's 12-square-foot project by artists Joel Yau of San Rafael and Chris Leib of San Francisco. "We'll start late Friday and finish about the middle of Sunday," Snyder says. His painting, like all the others at the festival, will be hosed out of existence when the festival ends. Snyder is philosophical: "Knowing it will be destroyed, you don't hold onto it as too precious," he says. "The whole idea is art as a performance, not art that will last." The first street-painting festival in the United States was in Santa Barbara in! 1987, and was modeled after a 1973 Italian revival of a centuries-old custom in medieval towns and cities. Marin's Youth in Arts organization, which brings art experiences to Marin schoolchildren, launched its first street-painting festival in 1994 and continues to sponsor the event as its major annual fund-raiser. Several artists who participate in the Marin festival now take part in the flagship Italian event; several have won awards, including a first-place by Mill Valley artist Genna Panzarela. Youth In Arts showcases a number of artists each year, including artists from Italy. But community groups and students also are encouraged to participate. About a quarter of the squares are done by student artists. Stellar among the students are those supervised by San Rafael High School art teacher Tia Warner, who has been an ardent supporter of the festival since its beginnings. She will direct four of her students - Jolene Russell, Jackie Swanson, ! Ali Noyer and Lindsey McNeil - in creating a 9-by-16-foot mural from c ropped images of women surfers. For the 11th year in a row, Warner also will create a square of her own. This one will have a film-related Art Deco design reminiscent of the old Rafael Theater, operated by the Film Institute of Northern California (and the Mill Valley Film Festival), headed by her stepfather Mark Fishkin. The film festival sponsors her square every year. She will be assisted in its creation this year by five art graduates of San Rafael High - Celeste Kuhlman, Candace Downey, Nicole Doll, Atsuko Kajita and Nina Sujikawa. "We always have the best location in the show, right in front of the church at the top of A Street," Warner said. Warner, who teaches and is a mentor for artists at San Rafael High, also trains students to assemble art portfolios for college credit. She enters her students' work in art shows all over Marin; Noyer won this year's competition to create a poster for the Mountain Play ("My Fair Lady"). While art! 's the thing at the street-painting festival, the event will be livened as usual with music and food. Musical performers will include Imperial/Towzey Project, Shana Morrison, the Company She Keeps, Austin Willacy, Scott Singer, Hookslide, Marcia Miget Jazz, Ray Simpson Big Band, East of Eden, and the Youth In Arts a cappella group Til Dawn. Food will be served by Il Davide, Frantoio, Insalata, Scopazzi, Pronto Pasta, Papa Murphy's Pizza and Cento Stelle. A Bar Italiano will serve Bellinis, Italian sodas, Buena Vista and Atlas Peak wines and Italian beer from Peroni. Also for sale: Starbucks coffee, ice cream and desserts from Victoria's Pastry and Il Fornaio. Added this year is an art gallery at which several of the street painters will sell samples of their work. A bidding process will end at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Proceeds will help pay for the work of Youth In Arts, which serves more than 30,000 children each year through its education programs: Artists in Schools, Very Special Arts and the Performing Arts Series. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 2004 Marin Independent Journal


Home \|	About \|	Gallery \|	Articles \|	Contact \|	Guestbook \|

			Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA) June 10, 2004 Section: Marin San Rafael Ready To Become A Giant Canvas By Beth Ashley - IJ reporter Just about any type of art - from cartoons to abstracts to pop - will be represented at this weekend's Italian Street Painting Festival. But the centerpiece creation will be one of the world's most recognizable classics: a 16-by-20-foot reproduction of the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci. Cuong Nguyen, who came to the United States from Vietnam jobless in 1991 at age 21, studied at San Francisco State University and became an icon designer for the Yahoo company Web site, will "paint" the "Mona Lisa" in colored chalk on the surface of A Street in downtown San Rafael. He estimates it will take him more than 30 hours over four days. He began sketching yesterday. Most of his work these days consists of digital images for Yahoo, although he also paints oil and pastel portraits of friends and family. But he chose the "Mona Lisa" in tribute to the gifts of da Vinci and because the original painting is celebrating its 500th anniversary! . When festival director and founder Sue Carlomagno of Mill Valley invited him to participate, "I was incredibly honored," Nguyen said. This will be his fourth entry in the San Rafael festival; he has also done street paintings in Utah, San Jose and in Valencia, just north of Los Angeles. His painting will include other famous images by da Vinci, including a scientific drawing ("Vitruvian Man"), "Lady With Ermine," and a self portrait. Nguyen (pronounced "win") will be among 400 artists of many ages and skills who will take part in the festival, painting with chalk on 30,000 square feet of asphalt at Fifth and A streets in front of St. Raphael's Church. The 11th annual event will feature artists from school children to Sunday painters to prize-winning professionals. Like Nguyen, street painter Spence Snyder of Mill Valley plans to reproduce a Renaissance classic, "Allegory of Peace, Art and Abundance" by Hans Van Aachen, a far cry from the! kind of art he does for a living. Snyder, 39, is a commercial and graphic artist who has designed hundreds of products for the toy and gift market, as well as posters for the Philadelphia Zoo, T-shirts for Greenpeace, CD covers, educational workbooks, kiddie backpacks, lunch bags, Internet icons and watches. He has participated in the Marin festival since 1994 and has been a featured painter at similar festivals in San Diego, Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara. He will be assisted in this weekend's 12-square-foot project by artists Joel Yau of San Rafael and Chris Leib of San Francisco. "We'll start late Friday and finish about the middle of Sunday," Snyder says. His painting, like all the others at the festival, will be hosed out of existence when the festival ends. Snyder is philosophical: "Knowing it will be destroyed, you don't hold onto it as too precious," he says. "The whole idea is art as a performance, not art that will last." The first street-painting festival in the United States was in Santa Barbara in! 1987, and was modeled after a 1973 Italian revival of a centuries-old custom in medieval towns and cities. Marin's Youth in Arts organization, which brings art experiences to Marin schoolchildren, launched its first street-painting festival in 1994 and continues to sponsor the event as its major annual fund-raiser. Several artists who participate in the Marin festival now take part in the flagship Italian event; several have won awards, including a first-place by Mill Valley artist Genna Panzarela. Youth In Arts showcases a number of artists each year, including artists from Italy. But community groups and students also are encouraged to participate. About a quarter of the squares are done by student artists. Stellar among the students are those supervised by San Rafael High School art teacher Tia Warner, who has been an ardent supporter of the festival since its beginnings. She will direct four of her students - Jolene Russell, Jackie Swanson, ! Ali Noyer and Lindsey McNeil - in creating a 9-by-16-foot mural from c ropped images of women surfers. For the 11th year in a row, Warner also will create a square of her own. This one will have a film-related Art Deco design reminiscent of the old Rafael Theater, operated by the Film Institute of Northern California (and the Mill Valley Film Festival), headed by her stepfather Mark Fishkin. The film festival sponsors her square every year. She will be assisted in its creation this year by five art graduates of San Rafael High - Celeste Kuhlman, Candace Downey, Nicole Doll, Atsuko Kajita and Nina Sujikawa. "We always have the best location in the show, right in front of the church at the top of A Street," Warner said. Warner, who teaches and is a mentor for artists at San Rafael High, also trains students to assemble art portfolios for college credit. She enters her students' work in art shows all over Marin; Noyer won this year's competition to create a poster for the Mountain Play ("My Fair Lady"). While art! 's the thing at the street-painting festival, the event will be livened as usual with music and food. Musical performers will include Imperial/Towzey Project, Shana Morrison, the Company She Keeps, Austin Willacy, Scott Singer, Hookslide, Marcia Miget Jazz, Ray Simpson Big Band, East of Eden, and the Youth In Arts a cappella group Til Dawn. Food will be served by Il Davide, Frantoio, Insalata, Scopazzi, Pronto Pasta, Papa Murphy's Pizza and Cento Stelle. A Bar Italiano will serve Bellinis, Italian sodas, Buena Vista and Atlas Peak wines and Italian beer from Peroni. Also for sale: Starbucks coffee, ice cream and desserts from Victoria's Pastry and Il Fornaio. Added this year is an art gallery at which several of the street painters will sell samples of their work. A bidding process will end at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Proceeds will help pay for the work of Youth In Arts, which serves more than 30,000 children each year through its education programs: Artists in Schools, Very Special Arts and the Performing Arts Series. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 2004 Marin Independent Journal