Chalk Art Festivals Still Popular Decades After They Began (VIDEO)

The I Madonnari festival in Curtatone, Italy, in the province of Mantova was first held in 1973, according to CNN.

The festival began with the original Madonna, the religious icon and mother of Jesus, not the pop star, and the artists that began painting her in the 16^th century. They first painted her using chalk and pastel artwork that was drawn directly onto the street. The Madonnari, the name the artists came to be known by, then made their living by traveling from town to town and receiving money from people who admired their work.

This method was a type of painting version of busking, or singing on the street for money. The tradition of the Madonnari continued until World War II, when it was no longer practical to sit in the street and create art for obvious reasons involving bombs and soldiers and war.

When World War II ended, the chalk art tradition declined significantly. Before the art disappeared, a group in Curtatone, Italy, decided to revive the tradition of art.

After that first festival in 1973, a new generation of street painters began traveling from city to city, much in the tradition of the original Madonnari, creating chalk art that may only last a few days.

The street festival usually has separate categories that include "copyists," those artists who reproduce painting by famous artists, "free artists," who create original artwork and 3-D artists, who make create any number of styles of art. There is also usually a place for children, teenagers and amateur artists to participate.

Onlookers find the concept fascinating.

"First, there was nothing," Denise Kowal, the founder of the Sarasota Chalk Festival, which will be held in November. "Now, there is this art, and you watched it happen."

The art is actually planned out carefully beforehand by the artist, who will usually arrive with pre-drawn sketches that they will recreate in larger pictures on the sidewalk or street. The artists also receive measured spaces where they can plan out their works.

"The quality of the street determines the clarity of detail in the work," Kowal said.