CLEVELAND, Ohio – The sidewalks outside the south side of the Cleveland Museum of Art became a wide-open canvas for artists from all walks of life. People worked their way through the Fine Arts Garden and down to Wade Lagoon to see artists at work.
Every sidewalk square was available for artists to express themselves through chalking.
Saturday began the 35th two-day Chalk Festival put on by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Artists began to make their chalk masterpieces. The festival is a modern Renaissance tradition from 16th-century Italy, according to CMA.
The 2024 festival featured artists included Rafael Valdivieso, Dante Rodriguez, John G., Lacy Talley, Ke Gray and Rising Cleveland Institute of Art students.
Rodriguez, 45, of Cleveland Heights, is a 25-year employee of the CMA. He started as part of the security team in the museum and is now a mount maker in exhibition production. For example, if the museum receives a piece of art that doesn’t come with something to hang or secure it from, he fabricates mounts, armatures and support structures for artwork. Through the years he’s always had love for art.
“Art is freedom. It’s definitely your freedom of speech,” he said. “I’m drawing Lemon because I adopted her when she was a kitten and she’s been with me for some big things in life.”
Rodriguez decided to chalk Lemon, his beloved late cat who passed away recently after living for 17 years. He chose to use bright colors when drawing Lemon because it expresses vibrance.
“She definitely wasn’t monochromatic,” he said with a smile. “She was very colorful, very energetic, very loving. So, I thought color was a way to express her personality.”
Though there are professional chalk artists and featured artists at the festival, anyone can participate in creating art and purchase a square. The Cleveland Museum of Art provides chalk pastels for those who want to join in on the creativity.
Coming to the Chalk Festival has become a family tradition for Tracy Radabaugh, 50, of Brunswick. She joked that she doesn’t have an artistic background, but it’s a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday, surrounded by others who are out to have fun.
“We’ve always gotten a kick out of it. Everyone (her family) would hit the Internet for inspiration and come with an idea,” she said, as she chalked mushrooms. “We just spend a Saturday as a family.”
Michelle Sokol, 36, of Cleveland, brought her 6-year-old daughter, Mavis, to the festival last year to get inspiration for their first Chalk Festival experience this year. Sokol and her family have always had an appreciation for art.
Mavis, with chalk on her face and shirt, was serious about her chalking. She created a canvas of nature, rainbows, sunshine, love and her cat.
“Weather has always influenced her motifs,” Sokol said. ” And of course she drew our cat because cats are life. It (Chalk Festival) doesn’t get more street art than literal street art. It’s so exciting because you really don’t know what people can cultivate until all of a sudden it’s alive on the street.”
The Chalk Festival will resume Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. It’s free to the public to walk through and enjoy the artists at work while they make the sidewalks pop with color. Anyone who wants to chalk can visit the registration tent in the Fine Arts Garden and purchase square to chalk.
Kaylee Remington is the shopping and entertainment commerce reporter and metro reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read her work online.
