L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS pated at Grazie in 1998 but stopped when the twins were born. When Giulia and Alice were 15, she brought them to the meeting and suggested t h a t t h e y p r o d u c e a w o r k together. "That is how our passion began," Giulia later told the Corriere. Both sis- t e r s a t t e n d e d a n a r t h i g h school and later studied at Milan's Brera Academy. Giulia now paints murals, accepts private commissions and works as a tattoo artist, while Alice is a ceramicist. For both of them, pavement painting is just another part of a working artist's life. Interestingly, their family story reminded me of one of my own. My great-uncle Dino, my father's uncle, was born i n 1 9 1 8 a n d b e c a m e a painter. I never knew him, but my grandmother, who h a d m a r r i e d h i s b r o t h e r , often spoke about the boy he had been in Mondovì, in the province of Cuneo. At the b e g i n n i n g o f e a c h s c h o o l year, he would sell his books and spend the money on col- ors, which he then used to draw Madonnas on the pave- ment outside Comino. The café and pastry shop is still there, at the entrance to the town's pedestrian center, but no one working or spending time in there can have mem- ories of that boy; yet that was an important place for young Dino, because while he knelt outside with his colors, he was finding his first way to make art with whatever he h a d a n d , p e r h a p s , u n d e r - s t o o d h e w a n t e d a r t t o become a true life compan- ion. Indeed, painting eventu- ally became his livelihood. He traveled, sometimes dis- appearing for long stretches, a n d n e v e r s h o w e d m u c h interest in the kind of settled life that other people might have expected of him. Free- d o m m a t t e r e d t o h i m t h e most, perhaps because he needed it to work. He was also left-handed, as I am, one of those small family details that somehow makes a per- son one has never met feel less distant. Several of his paintings remained in the family, and some now hang in my home; however, there was nothing to inherit from the Madonnas he drew out- side Comino: like all pave- ment pictures, they disap- peared. What remained was my grandmother's memory of him kneeling there, and of the schoolbooks exchanged for colors at the beginning of each year. But the wider tradition of t h e m a d o n n a r i t r a v e l e d much farther than Dino ever did. In 1986, American arts organizer Kathy Koury vis- ited the gathering at Grazie and brought the idea home to California. Her visit plant- ed the seed for Santa Bar- bara's I Madonnari Street Painting Festival, first held the following year. That festival, in turn, became the m o d e l f o r m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 r e l a t e d e v e n t s a c r o s s t h e United States, Canada, Cen- t r a l A m e r i c a a n d S o u t h America. The American artist Kurt W e n n e r a l s o w o r k e d among Italy's madonnari in t h e e a r l y 1 9 8 0 s , h e l p i n g bring pavement painting to new audiences while devel- oping the large anamorphic pictures that appear three- dimensional when viewed from one carefully chosen position. Wenner returned to Grazie this year and spoke at the traditional conference held on August 16, after the competition had ended. Giu- lia told L'Italo-Americano that his comments had been one of the things that struck her most about this year's e v e n t . " K u r t s p o k e a b o u t what it means to carry on a tradition like madonnara art without remaining anchored to the past." I t i s a n i s s u e s h e h a s encountered herself while working abroad. "Madon- n a r a a r t h a s d e v e l o p e d around the world in forms that are different from the traditional Italian one. I've taken part in gatherings in G e r m a n y a n d t h e U n i t e d States where, unlike in Italy, the subjects often move away from the Christian tradition. I like participating in these events because they allow me to explore themes that are different from the traditional ones and more contempo- rary." These experiences have also made Giulia aware of how differently the tradition is understood outside Italy. " M y i m p r e s s i o n i s t h a t a b r o a d m a d o n n a r a a r t i s regarded more generally as a form of street art, much like mural painting, for example. In Italy, I think the madon- naro is seen as a figure in his or her own right, and one much more closely connect- ed with tradition." Florida, Giulia says, has a special place in her heart: "I had a very good experience there. I felt that they paid close attention to the artists' needs, although I think the p u b l i c i n g e n e r a l i s l e s s familiar with this kind of art. In Italy, for years the madon- naro was seen as something of an outsider and, outside major events such as Grazie, y o u c a n s t i l l e a s i l y c o m e a c r o s s p e o p l e w h o r e t a i n some of that prejudice. In the U n i t e d S t a t e s , I h a d t h e impression that this attitude simply isn't there, and that madonnari are seen more straightforwardly as artists." Back to Grazie, we learn that Giulia's prize includes a commission to design the poster for the 53rd meeting, s o o n e o f h e r i m a g e s w i l l return to Grazie next year in printed form. The picture she made on the pavement, how- ever, is following a different s c h e d u l e : R i n u n c i a a g l i Averi will remain beside the sanctuary for as long as the w e a t h e r a n d p a s s i n g f e e t allow, then the photographs and stories will be the only things left, and its rectangle i n t h e s q u a r e w i l l s i m p l y become asphalt again. "Abroad madonnara art is regarded as a form of street art, much like mural painting, for example. In Italy, I think the madonnaro is seen as a figure in his or her own right, and one much more closely connected with tradition" – Giulia Monzani CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 Giulia Monzani with her winning work, Rinuncia agli Averi, which earned her first place among the maestri madonnari at the 52nd Incontro Nazionale dei Madonnari in Grazie di Curtatone; below, an artist at work (Photos courtesy of Incontro Nazionale dei Madonnari di Grazie - Antichissima Fiera delle Grazie/TGC Eventi)

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