Amazing art brings pavements to life at Sarasota Chalk Festival

MORE than 250 artists used chalk to transform the streets of one US town.

Chalk art

CAREFUL where you step!

Mind the lion to your right and the boy down below in the library! To the left there's a terracotta Lego army and a giant, black-and-white Anthony Soprano.

Pictures: Sarasota Chalk Festival 2011

Pedestrians walking the streets of Sarasota, Florida, had to watch where they walked after local and international artists descended on the town to convert it into an open-air art gallery.

The artists used bitumen as blank canvases for the annual Sarasota Chalk Festival, which is the only international event celebrating 16th century Italian street painting.

The 2011 theme was "Pavement Art Through the Ages" and more than 250 artists helped create a historical timeline of the movement along South Pineapple Avenue in Burns Square.

Sarasota Chalk Festival

Some artists began working on their designs early last week, but the event swung into overdrive just before the weekend with a 24-hour chalk painting competition.

The Grazie di Curtatone Madonnari Competition gave artists just a single day to complete their masterpieces, so keen onlookers could catch a glimpse of the final product before heading back to work on Monday.

They had to be quick though, despite hours of work, artists' designs were pressure-hosed off by the end of the day to once again restore those plain patches of pavement.

Click here to check out some of the best designs.

Pictures: Sarasota Chalk Festival 2011

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