An angel design by Italian artist Ketty Grossi
As with other regular and anticipated events, Covid and hurricanes have played havoc the past few years with the Sarasota International Chalk Festival’s schedule. Added to that, this year the Sarasota County Commission also denied funding for the festival through the Tourist Development Tax grants designed to support arts tourism.
Disappointed but not daunted, festival organizers, including founder Denise Kowal, have pressed forward with presenting a downtown Sarasota festival running Nov. 8-10. The event will once again welcome visitors to the streets, sidewalks and shops of Burns Square and South Pineapple Avenue for “Floralia Infiorata,” bringing together for the first time in the United States an assembly of ephemeral flower art maestros from around the world.
“For many of these artists, it’s their first time in the U.S.,” says Kowal. “We now have people coming from Japan, Spain, Italy, Malta and more to do this in one location. That has never happened here before. For the first time the festival has included delegations of that art form along with our pavement artists.”
Many of the artists have already been here in Sarasota for up to two weeks, assembling what they need for their creations and doing community workshops. “The material list from these artists is very extensive,” says Kowal. “It’s everything from dirt to sand to anything that grows as a plant—flowers, seeds, bark, dried leaves. We’ve had a team of volunteers doing the hunting and gathering.”
Oddly enough, she adds, “That’s the blessing the hurricanes have given us”—plenty of dried vegetation to choose from.
Kowal says festival organizers have also ordered 80,000 flowers for delivery, requiring dozens of volunteers to pull them apart and separate them by petal colors. That’s one way of involving the community. Another is a result of needing to go the ticketed route for festival access that was formerly free, due to the aforementioned pulled funding.
“When we decided to go ticketed, we realized the importance of having art be accessible to those who need it the most,” says Kowal. “Through the ‘Grow the Heart’ nonprofit program, groups like The Haven, Easter Seals, Senior Friendship Centers and the Boys and Girls Clubs receive free tickets and also get to create parade elements that will be used in the closing ceremonies,” which will include puppets created under the leadership of Canadian designer Danae Brissonet.
Religious and floral imagery play a large role in the work of Gerano’s Italian delegation.
In all, nine teams will converge to perform side by side. Among the festival stars: Genzano di Roma’s delegation, led by Claudia Gianiorio and her father Ivano, showcasing traditional infiorata designs; from Gerano, Italy, Mariano and Michele Caciaguerra presenting “Mary, Madonna of the Heart;” and from the Canary Islands, Ezequiel De Leon Cruz and family demonstrating their heritage of creating religious-themed carpets using local volcanic sand.
There’s more: Japan’s Yasuhiko Fujikawa will lead a team in depicting “Hana Kabuki”; and from India, Mahendra Metkari and Bhagyashree Deshpande will highlight the art of Rangoli, an ancient practice embodying the Sanskrit meaning of “an array of colors.”
Along with the flower carpets, festival attendees can expect the return of interactive illusion rooms, 3-D pavement illusions and digital murals. There’s also a special wine tasting event (at an extra ticket price) and a floral storefront contest, with local merchants competing to win prizes for their designs.
Kowal feels that the recent destruction faced here due to hurricanes Helene and Milton has left a lot of trauma in its wake. “But one thing that working with nonprofits has shown me is how important it is to connect with others and do something joyous in the face of adversity,” she says. “For some of these kids and adults we’re working with, their days are hard all the time. I feel this festival and our outreach programs have been magical for these students, who come back on their own time and continue to help. There’s a lot of creative energy, and it gives people a chance to breathe.”
For a complete list of artists, tickets and more information on the Chalk Festival, visit chalkfestival.org.