Madonnari Mural
In 2020, the Madonnari Arts Festival focused on creating the first-ever mural dedicated to the idea of Madonnari.
Madonnari Mural
The Madonnari Mural was designed and painted by Maestro Madonnaro, Michael Kirby, who is originally from Baltimore. Maestro Kirby is the only Maestro Madonnaro on the East Coast of the United States and was the youngest to achieve this title in Italy and Germany in the 1990s. In 2020, Mr. Kirby came up with the designs for the Madonnari Mural based on the winning images that gave him the title of Maestro Madonnaro and incorporated a mural based on the idea of motherhood that also incorporated relevant themes of today such as COVID-19.
The Madonnari Mural is located on Slemmers Alley in Little Italy, Baltimore. Thanks to the generous grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Southeast CDC that funded the project as well as many thanks to Alley Management Company for allowing the mural to be created on their property.
Michael Kirby in Grazie di Curtatone
Grazie di Curtatone is where the original Madonnari Festival first started in the 20th century in Italy.
Michael Kirby working on his winning piece of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the Madonnari Festival in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy.
Michael Kirby was able to win the Madonnari Festival and achieve the title of Maestro Madonnaro in Italy. Mr. Kirby poses with the bronze statue of a Madonnaro that is kept by the winning artists until the following year.
This is the image that Michael Kirby created to move up from the Simplici Category to the Qualificati Category in the Madonnari Festival in Italy. All of these images can be seen in the Madonnari Mural.