SARASOTA, Fla. — Local artists in Sarasota are collaborating to transform and beautify some streets in the downtown area. The work started earlier this month to prep the sidewalks with permanent painting ahead of the Sarasota Chalk Festival in the fall.
More than 200 artists representing 12 different countries have focused on the sidewalk panels in the Historic Burns Square District.
It's all part of the Avenue of Arts initiative to take downtown visitors through the rich history of Sarasota.
"I'm working on five different sidewalk sections 3 here.1, 2, 3, 4 in front of the S.E.E. I've done the entry, two for the entryway and I'm doing one that will be newspaper clippings," artist Beck Lane said.
Lane, a professional painter, is joined by high school painters and even staff from the Child Protection Center.
The permanent paintings offer a creative and enhanced walk through Sarasota's history and Lane's inspiration for one of her panels is educator Emma Booker.
"She raised the money to construct a school for the black community in Overtown and it was opened in 1925 so we started there then I moved over to Sarasota High School which opened two years later," Lane said.
Lane said this would be the first time she has embarked on this type of artistic expression of painting on the sidewalk.
"I thought it would be 'easy peasy lemon squeezy' and it is physically taxing but it's great to be out here cause people from all over Sarasota. We had people come from out of town," Lane said.
Beginning during the pandemic, the Avenue of Arts project, an offshoot of the Chalk Festival, was initially meant to be a nine-month project but with community support, it has now become a part of the Sarasota master plan for public art.
"There have been three phases of paintings, so we're over 300 paintings now," Bill Baranowski, one of the organizers of the Sarasota Chalk Festival and the Avenue or Arts initiative, said.
Some of the paintings surround the Child Protection Center helping children coming there who may be dealing with some family trauma.
"We have multiple staff out there doing some of the sidewalk squares so that they have the hopscotch out there with the words, 'I am strong, I am brave, I'm a thriver'...It really captures the innocence of children," Doug Staley, executive director of Child Protection Center Sarasota, said.
For people who are unable to physically visit downtown Sarasota, the exhibition is available to browse online and learn about the artists and the stories behind each painting.
"This Avenue of Arts is a 24/7 socially distant event that you can come to any time and walk around and enjoy the neighborhood and discover some new businesses in the community and see how it brings a community together. We see this lasting as long as we can," Baranowski said.
The sidewalk artwork is expected to be completed this month while the Chalk Festival is slated to return to Downtown Sarasota from Nov. 8-`10.