“We are preparing for ChalkFest, and one of our hopes for this festival is that it truly feels like it is for all of our community,” said Lauren Houser, director of Project Jericho.
Houser said a few years ago, an idea was offered to them to host workshops throughout the community to make ChalkFest “feel more accessible,” especially to younger artists.
“We wanted to keep it family friendly as well, so we decided to host workshops to build excitement and share some ideas and skills at how to best utilize chalk,” she said. “We wanted to make sure it didn’t feel intimating to anybody since chalk is such a welcoming medium.”
Houser added they also created a 12 and under category so participants can enter and compete against others in that age range.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Last year’s 12 and under category winner was Alivia Penwell, now 13, who attended the workshop.
“I’m here to practice for Chalkfest because I really enjoy chalk art and being creative, and I think this is a good way to learn more about it,” Penwell said.
Penwell said she likes to draw different cartoon characters and has a Disney-style drawing technique.
“I’ve always liked art, but I feel now I found more ways to do it, like different mediums, and I think chalk art is probably my favorite,” she said.
Houser hopes the workshops will help break down the process of chalk so it doesn’t feel intimating.
“Chalk is such a familiar and friendly medium, most of us have memories working with chalk when we were younger, but there’s really impressive things you can do as an artist with it, so hopefully these workshops give a few tips and tricks, and also gets people excited about the festival,” she said.
The ChalkFest will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, at National Road Commons park.
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