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Mary Dandan was back, but so were the rain clouds. There is nothing a sidewalk chalk virtuoso fears more than an ill-timed cloud burst.

Catharine of Bologna, the patron saint of artist, may have intervened to keep the sidewalks that pave the way to the Cesar Chavez Building dry and festooned with colorful pigments from the sixth annual Women’s History Month Street Painting Festival. Or maybe the clouds themselves did not want to wreck another Dandan masterpiece.

Music and rows of food vendors opened the two-day festival with excitement and passion.  Overnight the artists cringed as they waited to hear the drops of rain in their sleep. To their suprise the next morning of the festival brought rays of sunshine and smiles to their faces with not a single drop of rain.

Studio Arts major Dandan, 22, was smiling from ear to ear while putting the final touches on her sidewalk tour de force.

“I was very surprised when I got here and I wasn’t going to have to start over,” she said. “I was able to spend around 10 hours on it this time rather than last year spending most of my time doing touch ups (after it rained).”

In 2011 Dandan took home the prize for Most Original for her stunning rendition of Sacagawea.  Showers eluded her preventative measures and soaked her artwork.

This year’s competition acted as therapy from her classes and everyday life she said, birthing her tribute to mother earth.

“I neutralized a stenciled out image of a woman.” said Dandan. “I didn’t want to focus so much on her face as rather her expression, the colors I chose are ones that nature’s elements brings to mind.”

Brenda Mora, a celebrated chalk artist and coordinator of the event, said she was pleased with the turnout of the festival. Mora added extra components to this year’s festival including a graffiti art exhibition by the artists of the RAW art show on campus.

“Gio Cerda is to thank for that addition,” she said. “I was at another event this year and saw the graffiti artist and I contacted Gio and thankfully he made it happen.”

Displayed along the campus sidewalks was plastic wrap stretched from tree to tree that shared words of empowerment to women such as “Respect One Another” and “Mujer De Valor” meaning “Valued women” in spray-painted graffiti styles.

In spirit of the event biology engineer major Vanessa Gomez, 20, paid tribute to a professor she said has made a great impact to science and the lives of her students. Gomez used the sidewalk in front of the Student Center to lay out an abstract design of Dr. Nouna Bakhiet, a professor, published author and mentor to her students. Bakhiet is this year’s winner of the Faculty Leadership Award.

“Dr. Bakhiet is the advisor for the Biology Club and right now she is going through a very difficult time.,” she said. “I want her to know we are supporting her and love her. She was diagnosed, sadly, with colon cancer and has left for the semester while she undergoes chemotherapy for the next six months.”

Because of Bakhiet’s extensive contributions in the DNA field, Gomez incorporated DNA molecules in her design making it part of Bakhiet’s hair.

“The molecules are an extension of her,” she said. “ We are her family. She never had children or a family because she gave her life to science in order to make a change in the world. I want people to know what a wonderful addition she is to our campus, our lives and the world. This whole event was to celebrate women and women’s history month, what better way than this.”