Tivoli’s 12th Street Painting Festival is this weekend. The event’s Facebook page, Tivoli Street Painting, has been refreshed and is getting an accelerating number of hits. New photos from prior festivals are being posted daily. The Tivoli Free Library is organizing a workshop on how to make your street art “pop” for its patrons – stay tuned for the time and date. The chalk has arrived at the Village Hall – and is now under lock and key, ready for the big day.
Saturday will mark the twelfth year that the village of Tivoli invites all artists to share their talent by “painting” the street – closed just for the day. Trustee Susan Ezrati, the Festival Chair, is delighted that contributions for the Festival are up from last year, going a long way to offset the decline in grant income and the increased cost for chalk that results from the need to buy more each year because more and more artists come. She reminds us, “The Festival is, as it always has been, fully financed by grants and contributions. Taxpayers get a free ride on this festival.”
The Dutchess County Arts Council (DCAC), Administrator of public funds through the New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralization Program, has provided partial support for the festival again this year, albeit less than half of the support provided in prior years, due to reductions in support of the arts from NY State. So far this year, in addition to the Arts Council grant, the Festival is supported financially by Classic Auto, the Tivoli Bread Company, Tivoli’s restaurants, and many, many individuals.
Tivoli’s festival is open to all from 9am until 5pm. There is no cost or pre-screening of artists. The materials are free (the artist just has to register). The street is closed to vehicles, but open to pedestrians and artists. ‘Palettes’ 8 by 8 feet are marked on the pavement and both chalk and “palette” are distributed on a first-come, first-pick basis.
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