It’s always surprising that the quiet and often simple things in life can be so impactful. Chalk is a porous sedimentary form of limestone. For school chalk, it’s usually the mineral gypsum and then there’s sidewalk chalk which is often pressed into larger and more colorful sticks.
Many a driveway and sidewalk has been decorated with rainbows, fairy tale kingdoms, jungles and other imaginative destinations and creatures. There’s something so comforting to see a child return to his imagination, his own senses and to truly look at the world around him. And the Kansas City Chalk and Walk Festival will do just that on the weekend of Sept. 7 and 8 at Crown Center.
Turn off those cell phones and slide the to-do lists away. Why not try a little creativity? The festival has a significant section set aside for children and families. Each child will be provided a bucket of chalk at no charge. This area is called Children’s Creative Corridor.
For Executive Director Lotti Halpern, the festival fulfills so many needs in the community. First, there is collaboration. For her, it’s the chance to pull seemingly divergent organizations together to help keep the event free and fun. She has several businesses pulling for her and sponsoring artist stone canvases.
Then she brings in groups such as Jumpstart-Kansas City. Many of the volunteers are University of Missouri-Kansas City students who help with the children’s corridor. Jumpstart’s mission is to have every child in America enter school prepared to succeed. To this end, Jumpstart trains and supports college students to serve as part-time Corps members, working individually with young children to build skills crucial to school success through fostering their early language, literacy, social and initiative skills; encouraging strong family involvement to help families support children’s learning; and training college students to be future teachers and leaders in early childhood education.
Artist and teacher Jenny Mendez has come in to share Mattie Rhodes’ arts programming. She also helps out, Halpern says. There’s also a hope to bring in some students to talk about science and math such as the creation of chalk or the mathematics within the grid used to create a sidewalk masterpiece.
“So many schools have limited art and I want to give them a chance to see adult artists and others involved in the arts with the festival,” she says. “We also take our programs into area shelters and into schools without art programs. We want children to find inspiration. Sometimes the adult artist talks about his or her challenges as a child and teen.” Halpern says artists have even provided demonstrations at other events and corporate settings to encourage adults too.
Even some of the younger artists who have participated in the past are interspersed with the older artists. “We have had teenagers in the mix,” she says. Watch artists – student, amateur and professional – create a full-fledged work of art on the sidewalk near Crown Center. Some are comfortable on their knees while others have more inventive ways to roll around such as skateboard and lounge chairs.
Visitors can casually stroll through the event and watch the artists as they create their classical and modern paintings. Artists submit sketches so Halpern knows where to place them. This year’s theme is Around the World while the Originals and the Masters remain. Halpern says so many artists live a sort of insulated life, producing their art, but putting them front and center at the festival gives them a chance to share what they do.
Never fear, last year, at the fifth annual event last year, there were more than 120 artists and assistants to chat with and ask questions. Some of the chalk creations are done by families or several generations working together. Halpern hopes to have as many participants, if not more.
The mission of the Kansas City Chalk and Walk Festival is to engage with all members of the community regardless of social or economic status using art as a means of education, expression and “common ground.” “It’s camaraderie with chalk,” Halpern says.
