APPLY HERE -- https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=14774 -- The Denver Chalk Art Festival is an award-winning event that will transform Denver's historical museum district into a colorful street museum. Over the course of two days, 200 professional, amateur, and student artists captivate audiences as they take to the pavement armed with vivid soft pastels and spend hours drawing on their hands and knees. Thousands of festival attendees enjoy food and live music as they watch beautiful chalk pieces come to life. The event is produced by Denver Chalk Art and CherryArts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting arts awareness and education in Denver. The event follows street painting traditions that originated in 16th century Renaissance Italy when artists began transforming pavement into canvas using chalk. The artists were called “madonnari,” after their customary practice of creating chalk paintings of the Madonna. Historically, madonnari were known for their life of travel and freedom, making their living from coins received from passers-by. With World War II came many hardships, greatly reducing the number of these artists. The art form was not officially brought back to life until 1972 when the small town of Grazie di Curtatone in Italy started the first international street painting competition. Today artists worldwide are taking to the streets, bringing with them new ideas, techniques, and excitement for this form of expression.