Kayenta Arts Foundation announces that new this year to the
Kayenta Street Painting Festival will be an opening night screening of the much-anticipated
documentary film, “GESSO: The Art
of Street Painting.”
With support from the St. George Convention and Tourism Office and
DOCUTAH, the Festival will present the film screening Friday, April 25 at 8
p.m., at the Kayenta Outdoor Theater. The following two days, artists will take
to the asphalt creating masterpiece murals from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Considered a global art movement, street painting surfaced in 1973
and is known for taking the urban world by storm in the last 10 years. “GESSO”
introduces some of the world’s most renowned, dedicated and talented street
painters including two artists who will be present and featured at the 2014
Kayenta Street Painting Festival: Adry
Del Rocio of Mexico, and Valentina Sforzini of Italy.
“We are very honored to be one of the first locations to screen
this film,” said Aimee Bonham, founder of Kayenta Street Painting Festival. “With
two of the artists featured in the film attending our festival this year, we
are thrilled to be offering a screening – what a treat for our community.”
Bonham says she has been waiting with excitement and anticipation
to view the documentary. “It is very exciting to have two of the artists
featured in the film coming to southern Utah,” she said. “The worldwide street
painting community has been anxiously awaiting the release of ‘GESSO’ and how
it will help viewers understand what draws artists to street painting and what
compels them to dedicate their lives to this unique art form.”
In addition, opening night will also include a reception honoring
Bonham, the southern Utah artist who brought the Kayenta Street Painting
Festival to life four years ago. “It was really at the encouragement of my
family that made me want to do this,” she said. “It felt like street painting
would be a perfect fit in our arts and culture-oriented community.”
Each
spring, KSPF brings students and professional artists together for a full
weekend of creating colorful, chalk-art expositions. Using asphalt for a canvas
and chalk as a medium, large painted murals unfold at the hands of artists over
the course of two days and right at the feet of thousands of spectators. Last
year, KSPF attendance reached approximately 4,000 visitors representing 18 Utah
counties, 31 states, and eight foreign countries.
“This
is a great opportunity for artists and spectators in our community,” Bonham
said. “Each year, the event brings business, community, artists and students
together for an amazing collaborative event. It has been neat to see the
festival take off as it has and it is such a great event to be a part of.”
This
year’s featured artist will be Delphine Anaya, an artist and street painter
from Santa Barbara, Calif. Anaya works as a digital and visual arts teacher at
Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara. Anaya is an accomplished artist whose
street painting work is often figurative and religious.
Kayenta
Street Painting Festival is a program of Kayenta Arts Foundation, a Utah
non-profit corporation. This year, the festival will provide asphalt squares to
youth interested in participating with a personal set of pastels for $5. There
will also be a sprawling doodle that is free for anyone interested in
participating.
Kayenta
Street Painting Festival is a program of Kayenta Arts Foundation, a Utah
non-profit corporation.
Kayenta
Art Village is located at 875 Coyote Gulch Court in Ivins, Utah. For more
information about the festival, go to kayentastreetpainting.org. Admission to
the festival is free. Admission to the April 25 screening of “GESSO” is $5.
“GESSO: The Art of Street Painting” Synopsis
Since it’s Renaissance in 1973, GESSO is the first
feature film ever made about the phenomenon of Street Painting: A still very
young and already diverse art form that has taken the urban world by storm over
the last decade. It’s not anything like Graffiti or other forms of Street Art.
The works that street painters present to the public are engaging, mind blowing
and fascinating, visual treats for the eye, and above all not meant to last.
Despite all this popularity and attention, and despite
the omnipresence of Internet and social media, there’s still very little known
about the ephemeral art form itself or the artists and festivals that are responsible
for all this excitement. Most people, in fact, have actually never witnessed a
street painting created live, right in front of their very own eyes. All the
more reason to learn that there is really a lot more to Street Painting than
the eye can see.
Aimee Bonham Bio
Aimee
Bonham is considered southern Utah’s first lady of street painting. Since she
began street painting eight years ago, she has been the featured artist in
numerous festivals around the United States, and was selected to be an American
team members of the We Talk Chalk 3D street painting team in Thailand. In
addition to street painting, Aimee has an extensive career as an abstract
artist and is currently working toward a solo show May 2 at the Difiore Center
in St. George, Utah. Aimee is actively involved in the southern Utah
arts community, volunteering with several organizations. As a professional street painter, Bonham has traveled to
festivals in locations throughout the world including Owensboro, Ky.,
Seattle, Wash., Denver, Col., Gilbert, Ariz., Pomona, Calif., Provo, Utah, and
Thailand. Aimee resides with her husband, Jason, and three children in southern
Utah.
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