Jay is attending the Sarasota Chalk Festival for his third season November 2011. Jay has won awards in 2009 & 2010! Jay’s passion for the medium has taken him to festivals throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.

“The biggest allure of the medium is that it is a pure art form – a mix of Fine Art and Performance Art. The paintings are ephemeral – vulnerable to the elements – and only viewing them in context can provide a lasting impression.” Street painting has become more than a hobby for Jay, it’s somewhat of an addiction; as soon as he recovers from one painting he is looking forward to the next. “As Madonnari, we endure many physical challenges while creating our murals. Wind, heat, time, and the possibility of rain are all working against us.”

Jay Schwartz, founder of Ideaworks, a Santa Barbara and Las Vegas-based interactive agency, with clients ranging from museums to Las Vegas Casinos, is a graduate in fine arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara as well as Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design.