Via Arte is the biggest art festival in Bakersfield and also the top fundraiser for The Bakersfield Museum of Art. The museum, with sponsors and volunteers, held the 11th annual Via Arte on Oct. 10 and 11 at the Marketplace.
Via Arte is an Italian street painting festival from the 16th century, according to the Bakersfield Museum of Art Web site. Many people from California travel to Bakersfield to either participate or just to attend this event.
Beth Brookhart Pandol, director of marketing, said the museum decided to start Via Arte in Bakersfield to “bring art and culture to the community and to raise money for the museum. This is a great community event.”
Bakersfield resident Jeannie Hart, 26, became a professional artist eight years ago. Hart said, “Via Arte is one thing in Bakersfield that helps Bakersfield residents see local art and meet other artist in Bakersfield.”
And while artists help each other out, Via Arte is still a contest for the professional artists. The winners were picked by an out-of-town professional artist and there were two different categories in which pictures were judged. The two categories were original art and reproduction, in which the first place winners in both categories won $500. The second place winners won $250 and, the third place winners won $100.
Also on the professional side was Via Arte’s 2009 featured artist Michael Kirby, 34, from Baltimore. Kirby has been all over South America, North America and Europe creating and sharing his artwork with the world. He has also appeared on popular TV shows for his work like “Ace of Cakes” and “David Letterman.”
This well-known artist was flown to Bakersfield and paid to create a 3D painting for the festival. Kirby came to Bakersfield for Via Arte a couple of years ago and when asked why he came back he simply replied, “I love it.”
It took Kirby a couple of weeks to sketch his own original painting. “In general, the goal is to develop conversation and any artist is trying to get people to think.”