Helpers Needed for Community Painting

To help prepare for Ojai Day--a community street fair and celebration Oct. 21--two Ojai artists will paint a giant sidewalk painting this weekend and are looking for helpers.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Julie Steyer and Linda Harmon will paint a “mandala,” or depiction of the universe in shamanic symbols, in three large circles on the sidewalk of Libbey Park.

They and their helpers will finish the painting Sunday morning and prepare it for public viewing. The artists invite anyone who wants to paint to meet them at the fountain in Libbey Park.

The design will be based on ancient Mexican symbols, said event organizer Jody James. A grant from the city’s arts commission paid for most of the $500 cost of water-based paints and other supplies, she said. It should last for several months before eventually washing away.

For the past five years, artists have created a chalk mandala in the street each Ojai Day, at Signal Street and Ojai Avenue, James said. But this year, Caltrans officials advised organizers that they must wash the drawing off the street by the end of the event because Ojai Avenue is part of the state highway system.

That prompted James and the artists to move the design to the park, she said, so that the public has more time to view it.

For more information on the mandala or Ojai Day, call 646-1197.