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This past weekend on July 16- 17, 2022, nearly 40,000 people traveled into Downtown Hillsboro’s Cultural Arts District for Tualatin Valley Creates’ 4th annual chalk art festival La Strada dei Pastelli. There, they saw 25 award-winning and emerging artists from Oregon, California, Virginia and Georgia transform Main Street into a gallery full of colorful and vibrant legos, pandas, bubbles, and portraits of kids playing. In the community chalk area, kids had the opportunity to create their own chalk masterpieces, filling over 1,000 squares. There were smiles all around from on-lookers and participants alike. This multi-cultural festival gathered together people of all ages, races, abilities, and interests to enjoy live art, local music, vendors, and hands-on activities.

Opening the event on both days was the Mayor of Hillsboro, Steve Calloway. He could be seen throughout the weekend greeting guests and families. There were representatives from other elected positions, including Oregon State Senator Janeen Sollman, and Kevin Teater, the previous Executive Director of Beaverton Downtown Association and now a Beaverton City Council Member, as well as many members of the Beaverton Arts Commission. Tualatin Valley Creates says a big thank you to all their friends in Beaverton who have helped in transitioning this festival to Hillsboro and who’ve supported La Strada since its beginning in 2019.

Live Art

This year, our festival theme was “Joyful Play.” 25 award-winning and emerging artists from Oregon, California, Virginia and Georgia transformed Main Street into a gallery full of colorful and vibrant legos, pandas, bubbles, and portraits of kids playing.

Winning the ‘People’s Choice Award’ was husband and wife team Wayne and Cheryl Renshaw, with their 3D image of two girls playing on bouncy balls.

Find more information about our 2022 chalk artists below:

Live Music

A variety of performances took place throughout our two-day festival. We had everything from opera, a brass quintet and folk music to rock, indie and student groups. Below is a list of the performers in order of when they played and inks to learn more about each group.

Local Vendors

To complete the festival experience, we had a variety of local artisans, food and beverages. White Birch Design Co. and Resolu Cellars did a fantastic job organizing the ‘Hops & Vines’ Row, featuring a nice selection of local beer and wine.

Below is a list of our 2022 vendors. Check out more of their current work online.

Thank you to our supporters

This event requires help from all sides – from volunteers, sponsors, and community advocates. We want to thank all the La Strada Planning Teams for coordinating multiple aspects of the festival and for volunteering for months to bring this event to life. A spotlight to our superstar volunteers: Andrea White, Bill Hernandez, Shelley Fagin, Rob Routhieaux, Charles Wilson, David Kamin, Sharon Dunham, Jim Blaiche, Mamata Ives, Sue Pike and Don Carbonari. Thank you!

Thank you to Patricia Reser for believing in La Strada’s vision to be a signature event for our region and for being this year’s Title Sponsor. Many thanks to the City of Hillsboro for both contributing to the success of the event and dedicating time to collaborate throughout the whole planning process. We also give great thanks to Washington County Visitors Association for major help promoting the festival across not only Oregon but also securing marketing outlets across the west coast. And we could not have accomplished all of this without the Downtown Hillsboro Partnership. Their crews helped coordinate the weekend-of volunteers and ran merchandise; HDP is the best!

Lastly, a big thank you to all of our 2022 sponsors who made La Strada dei Pastelli Chalk Art Festival possible. Thank you to Patricia Reser, the City of Hillsboro, Washington County Visitors Association, Downtown Hillsboro Partnership, 2D4D, AT&T, Blick Art Materials, DesiBites, Heritage Bank, Hillsboro Bar & Grill, Lucy Anne Smiles Designs, Northwest Community Credit Union, NW Events & Environments, OnPoint Community Credit Union, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Rivermark Community Credit Union, Shelley & Mark Fagin, TriMet, Two Men and a Truck, White Birch Design Co., Michelle Bauer Photography, Cedar Hills Crossing, Centro Cultural, Washington County Chamber of Commerce,  Carts on Main, Fidelity Collection Service, Harris Velazquez Gibbens- Attorneys at Law, Henry Point Development, Hillsboro Farmers’ Market, Influence Music Hall, Insomnia Coffee, Meet Me in Beaverton/You Don’t Say Podcast, Metis Consulting Services, Office Depot, Tuality Masonic Lodge, and United Site Services.

See you next year!

We hope to see you next year at our 2023 summer festival! To get notifications about next year’s date and when chalk artist, performance, and vendor applications are open, subscribe to our “Occasional TVC Announcements & Events” newsletter.

To become a 2023 planning committee volunteer, sign up at www.tvcreates.org/volunteer.

To become a 2023 sponsor, email us at info@tvcreates.org.