Provo, UT

On June 13 & 14, 2008, the Gateway Plaza in Salt Lake City will be awash with color as Rio Grande Street is transformed into a gallery of temporary art during the 6th annual Chalk Art Festival.

Chalk art has its origins in 16th century Italy, where artists known as madonnari used the pavement as canvas for their paintings of the Virgin Mary (Madonna). These itinerant street artists made their living wandering from town to town and transforming the piazza pavements into beautiful works of art.

When I attended last year’s Chalk Art Festival I just thought it would be a fun way to spend the day. I had no idea of the history behind street art, or that the festival would benefit the 2600+ children in Utah’s foster care system.

Held by the Utah Foster Care Foundation, pavement squares are “sold” to sponsors to raise money for the foundation. The festival also raises awareness among the estimated 17,000 attendees about the need for more foster families in Utah.

The 2008 festival promises to be better than ever, with a record 115 volunteer artists using more than 5,000 sticks of pastel chalk to create impressive–and fleeting–works of art. The artists run the gamut from students to pros, and you’ll see just about every style imaginable. Some artists reproduce famous masterpieces, others create original art. Part fine art, part performance art, festival-goers can watch the artistic process from start to finish, and vote for their favorite. It’s a great opportunity to see artists at work.

I stopped to talk to a few of the artists along the way. Featured artist Gina Jrel spent quite a bit of time answering my questions about street art, the festival, and her work in general, so I contacted her to ask her about the actual process of chalk art. She told me that many artists grid out their pavement squares, and then draw in their designs. Instead, she does a line drawing of her artwork on paper, has it enlarged, and transfers the outline of her design to the pavement. She then tears away the template and free-hands the rest of the piece.

Since Gina creates most of her small-scale artwork in her private studio, creating large-scale art on the street for charity is a completely different experience. People get to watch the evolution of the artwork, and using the ground as the canvas offers the artist a very different perspective. And, chalking outside is messy…it can take hours to clean up afterwards. (Just ask artist Lee Jones, who has made a career out of chalking!)

I loved watching the artists work, and witnessing the birth of art that would only be preserved in photos. Some of my favorites were Prelude to a Kiss, and the reproductions of Van Gogh’s Café Terrace and Picasso’s Old Guitarist. There’s something for everyone to enjoy, from realism to abstract to comics and fantasy.

In addition to the artists there are food vendors, music, giveaways, an awards ceremony honoring foster dads, and activities for the kids. Kids can try creating their own chalk art at the festival–in addition to the 4,000 information bags the Utah Foster Care Foundation hands out, they also provide hundreds of sticks of chalk at no charge for little artists. My daughter had a blast scribbling on her own little section of pavement.

If you go make sure to bring water and sunscreen, since the festival is outdoors with little shade (last summer it was about 105 degrees, so we cooled off afterwards in the Gateway sprinklers).

The festival is free, and runs:
Friday, June 13 (4:00 pm – 9:00 pm)
Saturday, June 14 (11:00 am – 7:00 pm)

For more information: http://www.utahfostercare.org/chalkartfestival.html