3D Street Painting – Colors of Willemstad, Curacao

The Colors of Willemstad is a relatively new event, celebrating it’s 2nd anniversary in 2011. I was invited to attend and create a signature 3D Street Painting to wow the folks of Curacao. My team and I arrived on a Monday and began work on Wednesday. We enjoyed a great day at the beach on Tuesday, soaking up some of the wonderful Caribbean sun and enjoying the warm tropical waters. A great way to get into street painting mode!

Curacao, the largest island of the Netherlands Antilles, is neighbored by Aruba and Bonaire – it lies just north of Caracas, Venezuela by 172 miles / 276 kilometers. Great for snorkeling, scuba and care free tropical relaxation, Willemstad, Curacao’s capital is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, a must see. Four languages are spoken here: Dutch, English, Spanish and the local language, Papiamentu. For more info on Curacao visit: http://www.curacao.com/

The 3D street painting I created with my team was based on the rocky cliffs of Curacao and it’s native bird, the Troupial (Orange Breasted Oriole) which can be seen everywhere! The concept involved creating a scene of the city in the distance with the tropical birds of the island flying overhead. I had children stand on the flying birds when the painting was completed, which was great fun for them. The painting was completed in 4 days and was a resounding hit with the local residents. Local news agencies and tv covered the progress of our piece daily, which drew the viewers down each day to see the painting process.

The festival also boasted performance arts acts such as living statues, musicians, dancers and friend, Dan Dunn, speed painter extraordinaire! Student workshops were held daily in an effort to continue education on this wonderful street painting art form. My students (aged 7 – 17) had incredible success with their images – just take a look at these photos below!

Thanks to everyone at Dutch Dream for making our stay in Curacao so memorable. Special thanks to Carol Kooyman for her gracious hospitality!