JAMIE TAAFFE CHALKING IN SARASOTA FOR FIRST TIME

Jamie Taaffe, a native of Bradenton has always had a passion for art, but it is only recently that she has discovered the art of street painting and chalk art festivals. Surrounded and continually inspired by the art community of the Sarasota/Bradenton area has helped her become the artist that she is today.

Her love of art brought her to the University of Central Florida to pursue a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art Education, of which she will receive on the Saturday following this event. She is currently a student member of the National Art Education Association and Florida Art Education Association and has participated in the 2007 and 2008 Florida Conferences as well as the 2008 National NAEA Conference in New Orleans, LA. She has also had the opportunity to volunteer with the Education Department of the Ringling Museum of Art located here in Sarasota. These opportunities have allowed her to refine her skills as an artist, but also given her further professional development and experience researching and teaching art in the classroom. She has a personal experiences working with drawing, painting, printmaking, weaving, 3D art, and mostly recently, sidewalk chalk art festivals.

Her artwork has been shown at the High School Art Show at Village of the Arts in Bradenton, Florida in 2004 and 2005 where she received the Viewer's Choice Awards in 2005. Working with a group of fellow artists at the University she painted backdrops for a student independent film called the Creativity Machine directed by Thomaz Marcondes and Natalia da Silva. Most recently her work was shown at the 2008 Eco-Art Contest located in Lakewood Ranch.

Her first Chalk Art Festival in 2007 is where she fell in love with this new experience of chalk art. Since then she has participated in the 2009 Rotary Chalk Art Festival, just two weeks ago and is looking forward to chalking once again.

ARTIST SPONSORED BY: JAKE'S DOWNTOWN