Via Colori 2008

To be honest, I was only peripherally aware of the Via Colori festival prior to being contacted by Greg about The Flying Fish Sailors performing at the event.

Via Colori is a licensable special event that any given charity can “lease” for the purpose of raising funds for their organization. Here in Houston the annual event is held in support of the Center For Hearing and Speech.

Basically you (or your company) can purchase a square to be painted with chalk. Donations for the square range from $500 – $1,500, depending on size. You (or your company) get a placard next to the square with your name on it indicating your patronage and an artist of your or the festival’s choosing then paints the square over the course of the two day event.

All in all, not a bad deal. There were some 175 companies/organizations/individuals represented by artists who spent the weekend on their hands and knees transforming a small patches of asphalt into works of art that ranged from benign to magnificent.

If you do the math, that’s a sizable # of donations for the well deserving Center For Hearing and Speech.

As a whole, the event was very interesting and the weather could not have been more cooperative in terms of temperature and, more importantly, lack of precipitation.

Before and after my band’s performance, Cynthia and explored the festival and shot pictures. Watching some of these artists working in chalk, knowing their creations would be washed away by Sunday night was, well…compelling.

Additional photos of mine can be found here