The Cleveland Museum Of Art
Chalk Festival
How It All Started
First held in 1990, the Chalk Festival both commemorates and celebrates the Modonnari of the Italian Renaissance who would use natural white, red and black chalk to replicate masterpiece paintings displayed within the nearby cathedrals. According to the Cleveland Museum of Art website, passersby would often give the artists money in appreciation for their beautiful chalk renditions on the cathedral grounds. 500 years later, the spirit of the event has completely changed. Where 16th century street artists once created chalk drawings in the hope of gaining money on which to live, today’s artists bring their artistic visions to the admiring public purely for the joy of doing so. Another modern difference is the use of colorful, easy-to-blend pastels, which is greatly favored by today’s artists over the original chalk for which the festival is named.
Getting To The Festival
The first step is getting to the museum. Follow your GPS to ‘Jeptha Drive’ in Cleveland to go directly to the museum’s dedicated Parking Garage. (There’s no numerical address because the garage is the only place to go on Jeptha drive.) Once you’re parked, take the elevator or stairs to Street Level and exit the garage from there. (Note that Street Level is one level above where you enter the garage with your car.) You’ll follow some walkways and pass a massive steel sculpture on the way. Keep walking around the museum building, passing the front entrance doors as you go. You may see other Chalk Artists walking in the same direction at this point, so follow them as they all probably know where they’re going! The Cleveland Museum of Art is a colossal building and it will take you a good five minutes or so before you see the white tent at the festival. There’s metered street parking which may get you closer, but street parking will aways be a crap-shoot, and the Parking Garage will always be a sure-thing.
The Perks Of Arriving Early
There are perks to arriving early at the Chalk Festival (and by ‘early’, I mean as soon as the festival opens and starts selling squares, which is usually noon.) The first perk is that you’ll probably have your pick of anywhere you wish in the Fine Arts Garden, if something like that is important to you. For instance, some artists will actually make their own kind of ‘paint’ by mashing pastels into powder and mixing with water, which they apply with brushes to introduce finer detail in their work. Those folks prefer spots closer to the fountain so they can walk over to get a cup of water to make different colors of paint. Arriving early also means that you have more time to work if you discover your project takes a bit more time to complete than you expected, which sometimes happens. Arriving early can also mean less exposure to the summer heat, which can still be considerable in mid-September. Finally, arriving early will allow you to finish sooner if your project is simple, giving you some time left over to explore a few museum galleries and maybe have a look inside the museum gift shop. Just some things to consider!
To Summarize…
The Chalk Festival at The Cleveland Museum of Art is a great way to round out a Northeast Ohio Summer. For many people – myself included – it’s become a can’t-miss, end-of-summer tradition. The people are happy and friendly, the activity is creative and relaxing, and the atmosphere is joyous and carefree. It’s long been my favorite event to photograph in my beloved city of Cleveland, Ohio!
About The Chalk Festival
One of the most enjoyable end-of-summer events in Cleveland, the Chalk Festival at the world-renowned Cleveland Museum of Art is held for one weekend every mid-September or so, just before Autum arrives with its cooler days and colorful leaves. People of all ages and backgrounds converge upon the Fine Arts Garden behind the museum to transform the walkways into a giant canvas of beauty and self-expression. It’s an event during which anyone, from school children to retirees, can participate as Chalk Artists or simply stroll the grounds to enjoy the happy, inclusive atmosphere. There’s a live band under a tent, a misty fountain, acres of green grass and happy people everywhere! There’s also easy access to the extraordinary museum itself. In the enduring tradition of the Cleveland Museum of Art, admission to the Chalk Festival is always FREE! Participation requires the purchase of a ‘square’, each of which includes its own box of colorful pastels. The cost is very affordable to encourage maximum participation, and there’s no limit to how many ‘squares’ can be purchased.
Tips For Participants
I’ve been going to the Chalk Festival for many years with my daughter who started with the simplest drawings but who now contributes with some fairly elaborate projects. I’m not an artist myself (except for what I try to accomplish with my big Nikons) but being intrigued by all the artists I’ve observed – especially by my own meticulous daughter who makes it all look easy – I’ve gained some basic pointers for how to make the Chalk Festival as enjoyable as it can be. Every year we make the car trip together, she with her artist junk and me with my camera junk, and every year we look for ways to make it go just a little smoother. We always hope we’ll get it down pat some year! My ‘Tips For Participants’ are generally aimed at newbies who are trying it out for the first time, in the hope I can help make their day a bit easier by calling out some obvious things to do or to avoid.
Buying Your Squares And Pastels
This is the tent is where you begin your Chalk Festival Experience by paying for your ‘squares’ and pastels. A ‘square’ is a paving stone upon which you’ll apply your unique artistic vision! No squares are alike and I doubt any of them are actually square. There’s no standard size, only that some are smaller and some are larger, and you have a choice of which size to purchase. A small square includes a small box of pastels, and a large square includes a large box of pastels. You can buy them in any number you desire, as long as they’re available (they’re sold on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.) Once you buy them, they’re yours for the whole weekend! Obviously, you need to have enough pastels to finish your project, so this will takes some prior consideration on your part. At the time of this writing, a large box of pastels contains twice the number of pastels as a small box. This may be tricky to estimate if this is your first Chalk Festival project, so the best advice would be to err on the side of having a few extras.
Some Basic Things To Consider
Even though the Chalk Festival is an end-of-Summer event, It’s often mid-summer hot! Planning for the weather starts a few days before the event and can go a long way toward having the best time possible. Bring a hat if you get headaches or can feel woozy in the direct sun, and bring sunscreen if you sunburn easily. Bottled water on-hand is important when the heat of day sets in, so consider a small soft-sided cooler with cold water, sandwiches and snacks if you expect to be at the festival all day. Selecting a shady spot seems like an obvious move to make, but remember that as the sun tracks across the sky, it pulls the shade right along with it. It’s the rule rather than the exception that you will lose your shade as you work on your project. Fortunately, an umbrella tipped on its side can supply shade not only to keep you cooler, but also to provide relief from bright, reflected sunlight which can be damaging to your eyes. Sunglasses help, but they also make it difficult to see darker elements in your artwork. Finally, a foam cushion is very advisable to bring along (your knees and butt will thank you for it later!)
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