Two family-friendly days to enjoy sidewalk art inspired by Italian Renaissance tradition
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The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) will host the 2022 Chalk Festival, an annual event started in 1990, this year expanded to two days, Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11, noon to 5 p.m., rain or shine. The festival features sidewalk artistry by professional chalk artists and local community groups, families, and individuals, all using the CMA’s south plaza and walkways that wind through the Fine Arts Garden and down to Wade Lagoon as a colorful canvas.
The Chalk Festival is a modern expression of a Renaissance tradition from 16th-century Italy in which beggars copied paintings of the Madonna by Raphael and his contemporaries using chalk on the plazas outside cathedrals. This year, Chalk Festival’s featured artists include Héctor Castellanos Lara, Wendy Mahon and Oliver C. St. Clair, and the community is invited to take part in a chalk-drawing masterpiece and make it come alive with color.
Squares and boxes of chalk are available for $10 with on-site, day-of registration (supplies limited). No advance reservations will be taken. The Chalk Festival is free to visitors wishing to enjoy the artists’ work and listen to live music in the garden.
Chalk workshops led by artists sharing some easy chalk art techniques are being offered at the CMA’s Community Arts Center (CAC) on Saturday, September 3, from 10 a.m. to noon. Join us for a mini chalk party at the CAC on Saturday and Sunday, September 3 and 4, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The CAC is located at 2937 West 25th Street in Cleveland. Free parking is available in the adjacent lot on Castle Avenue. No advance reservations are needed. All art supplies and instruction will be provided free of charge.
Photo: David Brichford, courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
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About the Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 63,000 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovations. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation, recognized for its award-winning Open Access program and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in the University Circle neighborhood.
The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.