Many people might associate sidewalk chalk art as something for kids, but in fact, it’s very much an adult enterprise. When local resident Jay Bender first became enamored with chalk art, or street painting as it is sometimes called, he was attending the Sarasota International Chalk Art Festival in Venice, Fla. Artists from all over the world were competing, doing a type of art that is anything but permanent… the first time it rains, the art gets washed away. In many ways it is a performance piece.
Bender, who has a Master’s in art and taught Photography at the college level, had a great time at one of the larger chalk art events that takes place in the U.S. “I saw the best of the best in the chalk art world,” Bender, who designs houses for a living, said. “I was blown away. It was cool! So cool, in fact, that I decided I’d like to try it, myself. I also thought it would be a perfect fit our little art community, Eureka Springs. I decided to organize the very first Eureka Springs Chalk Art Festival. It is happening very soon, May 17 –20, Thursday through Sunday, during May Festival of the Arts.”
The City Advertising and Promotion Commission gave a grant to bring nationally recognized chalk artist, Craig Thomas, from Cape Girardeau, Mo., to town for the Fine Arts Festival. He’ll be doing two workshops downtown next to the courthouse. DeVito’s has volunteered to feed the artist and a cabin at Beaver Lake has been donated for his lodging.
“Craig Thomas is a master at this, so it will be exciting to have him here,” Bender said. “People will take the workshop and then get to work on their own street painting. All weekend long the public can watch the progress and take pictures. The artist also takes pictures in order to have a record of the finished work.”
Jay did his first piece in his neighbor’s driveway in Florida. He and his wife are snowbirds, splitting their time between Eureka Springs and Englewood, Fla.
You don’t need special chalk although some artists use fancier chalk than others. Some people use tempera paint even though there are purists in the chalk art world who say that’s cheating.
“Frankly, at the International Chalk Art Festival I went to last November there were a number of people using tempera paint,” Bender said.
One interesting thing about street art is that the viewer is looking at something on pavement that is not flat in front of them, like wall painting. Because the top of the piece is farther away and down on the pavement, perpendicular to the viewer, it has to be drawn differently. What is farther away has to be drawn taller, wider and bigger because it appears smaller. It’s known as “anamorphic” art and is calculated to look right from one particular viewing point. Bender said they often look quite 3-D.
This kind of artwork isn’t easy.
“It is pain-staking,” Bender said. “You have to grid the whole thing out and pay close attention. It is actually pretty complicated to get it to look like it is supposed to and create the 3-D effect. That’s what separates it from kids drawing on sidewalks. It is a more complicated and serious endeavor to do the anamorphic art.”
This is the first chalk art entry in the festival in Eureka Springs, but Bender is hoping it might not be the last. “This is kind of our baby step,” he said. “I’m worried it is going to be viewed as kid’s finger-painting and that’s not what this is about. I’m all for kids doing chalk on sidewalks, but that isn’t what I saw in Sarasota that I wanted to bring here. It is an amazing art form.”
The two free workshops will be held on Thursday, May 17, one at noon and one at 6 pm. For more information, email Bender at jaybender1@gmail.com, call (509) 433-1090, or visit the Eureka Springs Chalk Art Festival page on Facebook.