Via Arte, a great place for art lovers to enjoy different styles of art, held its’ fifteenth annual event down at The Marketplace on Oct. 5-6
A combination of cool jazz, oldies, rock and blues were the background sounds for spectators. The Mike Montano Band covered songs from famous artist like the hit “Black Magic Woman” by Santana.
Not only were there artists and live music, but there was also a belly dance group on site to entertain the crowd.
This year, Cuong Nguyen, originally from Vietnam was the pro-level artist. The chalk art done by Nguyen and his assistant was inspired by a painting originally done by Lord Fredrick Leighton called “Biondina.”
His assistant, Joel Yau, said that organizers have been inviting Ngyuen for several years until he could finally make it. It was their first year at Via Arte for both artists. Yau said, “We’ve been doing street paintings for about fifteen years now.”
Yau said he has done art since he was in high school. He then decided to further his studies at The Academy of Art with a focus in illustration. Nguyen studied at San Jose State University. His art is inspired mostly by the eighteenth century romanticism. He is a Fine Art artist featured in galleries all over the globe.
Araceli Solis, 34, also had an assistant with her at this year’s Via Arte. This is Solis’s and Eloy Covarrubias second year collaborating in Via Arte.
Mermaids inspired her street art because they have made big news recently with supposed sightings and footage. Another part of her inspiration was her daughter because she is a huge fan of mermaids as well. Solis said that she and Covarrubias looked at several mermaid photographs and pieced their art, all on that Saturday morning. She said that while the mermaid was her idea, Covarrubias incorporated the fish in the compilation.
She also mentioned starting art in high school at Wasco Union High. This is her eighth year participating in Via Arte.
Jorge Guillen, 32, was also spotted working on some artwork later in the afternoon that day.