`La Strada' festival transforms Summerlin

Professional and student artists covered the courtyard at the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center with colorful chalk masterpieces during the community's first annual "La Strada dell Arte" street painting festival yesterday.

A fund-raiser to benefit arts programs in Summerlin schools, the festival also featured chalk pastel pieces team-painted by students from area schools, entertainment and Italian food.

A team from Richard Bryan Elementary School worked in shifts under the direction of art teacher Allison Reese, and re-created, in chalk, Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night."

"We're grateful to Summerlin for providing this opportunity for our students," Reese said. "It's a fun and creative way to expose the kids to the classics. Art is hugely important to any child's development. In addition to enriching the soul, it incorporates all the higher-level thinking skills."

Students of Alexander Dawson School art teacher Anna Marie Nagai re-created Claude Monet's famed water lilies, and students of Ober Elementary School art teacher Carol Schmidt painted undersea creatures. Cimarron-Memorial High School students completed a large painting under the direction of art teacher Lisa Lyle.

"Street painting festivals were a colorful tradition originating in 16th century Italy. One reason the Italian Renaissance produced such great masters as Leonardo, Rafael and Michelangelo was that their society placed such an emphasis on the visual arts. Street painting festivals are now enjoying a renaissance throughout America and in Europe," said Tom Warden, a spokesman for The Howard Hughes Corp., the community's developer.

"Summerlin has always tried to create an atmosphere where all the arts can flourish, especially for children. We must never forget that the imagination takes us `where the sidewalk ends,' as the poet Shel Silverstein put it."

Located along the western rim of the valley, the community is comprised of villages, each with its own major park or golf course. About 100 parks, more than 45 completed miles of trails, and about 150 model homes are also featured.

Single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums are priced from under $100,000 to more than $700,000. Custom lots measuring from one-quarter acre to three-quarters of an acre are priced from the mid-$100,000s to more than $1 million, and predesigned custom homes are priced from $500,000 to more than $1 million. Apartments offer monthly rents starting from the $700s.

To visit the home finding center, take Sahara Avenue west, past Hualapai Way, to Town Center Drive. Or, take Interstate 215 to Sahara. The center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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