 Robin Blinde of KidsArt at Loyola Corners creates a drawing at the Bella Via chalk art festival in Valencia. Blinde is helping organize the first such festival in Los Altos. |
Chalk it up to Loyola Corners’ new business owner Robin Blinde to organize a whole new kind of festival for Los Altos.
Blinde, the owner of KidsArt at 945 Fremont Ave., has partnered with neighboring FasTracKids business owner Laura Boderick to put on “Bella Strada” (”Beautiful Street”), the first street chalk festival in Los Altos. The event is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Loyola Corners shopping district, corner of Fremont and Miramonte avenues.
The event will feature a dozen professional chalk artists creating works on blocked-off B and Carob streets, side streets in the shopping district. Food, entertainment and children’s activities in the parking lots will be part of the festivities.
Blinde, who opened KidsArt in February after moving to the Los Altos area from Valencia in Southern California, said she was inspired by the success of a chalk art festival in Valencia and discussed the idea of creating one here with Boderick.
“It was a lot of fun and a great (way to spend the) weekend,” she said. “It’s fun watching the artists work on such a large scale. It’s amazing what people come up with.”
Blinde and other business owners hope the festival will bring more people to the south Los Altos shopping district and will become a fun annual event.
Street painting, as it’s called, is rooted in an Italian tradition dating back to the 16th century when painters known as Madonnairi would turn public squares into temporary galleries.
Amateurs as well as professionals can try their artistic hand on Loyola Corners’ pavement. Organizers have designated an “Amateur Alley” for first-time chalkers. Blinde said the designated spaces start at 4 feet by 6 feet.
The event is co-sponsored by Loyola Corners merchants, the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce and the downtown Los Altos Village Association.
For more information, visit www.bellastradafestival.com.
