Chalk It Up – Madoranni Festival

Sept. 6-8. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.. Little Italy, Baltimore. Free. After Michael Kirby discovered his talent for street art as a teenage spray-painter, the Parkside native went on to create thousands of Renaissance chalk paintings and become the first American artist to achieve the title of “master street painter” in major European festivals. Now the founder of local studio Murals of Baltimore, Kirby has seen the Little Italy Baltimore Madonnari Arts Festival grow into a much-anticipated affair that draws thousands of onlookers to the neighborhood to watch local and international artists create pavement masterpieces. Kirby says the most important part of the festival (September 6-8) is that it brings both new and familiar faces to Baltimore. “People will visit on Friday to see what the artists are drawing and then come back again on Sunday to see the finished piece,” Kirby says. “Every day you come back, you see and experience something new.”—KP