My Life as a Street Painter in Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy, birthed the Italian Renaissance. Hundreds of years later, American sculptor Kelly Borsheim traveled to Florence, fell in love with the city, and found herself immersed in the old art of painting directly on the street. The book focuses mainly on the large temporary artworks in pastel and chalk, street paintings of famous art masterpieces created between 2007 and 2010 by Kelly and her colleagues in Florence, as well as in other parts of Italy. The city began to change during these years and Kelly chronicles the struggles of the street painters for the ability to continue their form of art for public enjoyment. This visual journey (over 330 images) includes the following chapters: *Introduction (images of Florence as the setting for this story) *Who are the Madonnari (a bit of history) *How I became a Madonnara *Solo Creations and My Process *Destruction of an Ephemeral Art *Protesting the Street Art Tax *Collaborative Creations *Sharing the Street *The People You Meet *The Kids *The Parades *Tributes and Special Occasions *Festivals Nocera 2009 Nocera 2010 Mantova / Grazie Di Curtatone 2010 This book will be enjoyable for all that love art, street painting, and Florence, Italy."