The Santa Clarita Street Art Festival in downtown Newhall continues today after a Saturday packed with all sorts of vendors, musicians, food and fun. . .

    Several blocks of San Fernando Road were shut down for the festival, which aims to revive the spirit of Bella Via, the Italian street painting festival held in Valencia from 1999 to 2003, in a new way.
    “I’m ecstatic,” said festival coordinator Kari Sims. “Everyone has been missing (street art) so the city decided to bring it back.”
    In addition to a carnival, vendors and a zoned off area for skateboarding, there is an entire lot dedicated to chalk art.
    “We have close to 85 artists,” Sims said.
    Rudy Pavini is one of those artists. He spent the early hours of Saturday morning working on a piece of artwork reminiscent of a Monet.
    “I like scenic stuff,” he said. “My style is kind of like his. I didn’t copy it intentionally, it just kind of comes out that way.”
    Pavini is a professional artist who makes a living teaching art and theater and painting murals.
    “I’ve drawn ever since I was a kid.” he said. “I have a little building in Canyon Country where I teach art and theater.”
    Pavini said he mostly uses acrylics and has painted murals all over the SCV, including a massive piece by the Placerita Canyon Nature Center that took two months to complete.
    “It’s 600 feet long and 12 feet high,” Pavini said. “It’s the entire history of Placerita.”
    In addition to the chalk art, other featured events such as the Boogie Knights disco group played Saturday night.
    Also Saturday night from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the CalArts animation team screened several short animated films.
    One of the central motivations behind reviving the art festival was to bring people to Newhall, get them to meet each other and see the improvements the city is planning, Sims said.

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