Last year, Verona held its first chalk art festival. Artists ranging from elementary school students to professionals took over the loop in front of H.B. Whitehorne, drawing away as the public walked between them to watch creativity in action.
Chalk Fest can’t happen that way this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Verona Arts, a group dedicated to raising awareness of Verona-based visual artists in the fields of drawing, painting, and photography, will be encouraging artists to chalk up the driveways and walkways at their homes. Verona Arts has just opened registration for the second annual Chalk Fest, which will be held on Saturday, September 26. The first 60 registrants will receive a free box of Koss brand chalk.
Registration is free, which means that this year’s event will not be a fundraiser for arts scholarships like last year. “We will, however, continue our funding efforts next year and as opportunities become available,” says Renee Powley, the chair of Verona Arts.
Powley says that, while a 4×4 foot drawing is a good guideline for scale, the designs for the at-home edition of Chalk Fest can be any shape or size. “We leave it up to the artist,” she says, “but ask that all submissions are family friendly.” Verona Arts will be creating a map of all drawing locations so that people can walk around town and enjoy them all.
Verona Arts is planning to award first, second and third place ribbons to the drawings, and it has invited last year’s first place winner, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, to return this year as a featured artist. “We hope to secure at least one other featured artist,” says Powley, “and will have them drawing somewhere on Bloomfield Avenue so passers-by can watch them as they work.”
You can register to participate here.
