As someone who only thinks of jumping through a sidewalk with Mary Poppins when chalk art is mentioned, I was intrigued by this event. Is chalk art really that popular and what are people doing with it? After a little online research I was surprised to find so many artists who use chalk as their medium of choice.
One artist in particular grabbed my attention: Julian Beever. He has become famous for his artwork, which appears to jump out of the sidewalk at you, or descend beneath your feet. Photographs taken of people interacting with his work make the drawings appear to be three-dimensional. From one side, his creations look like stretched out drawings, but when viewed from the correct angle—it’s magic. Sidewalks all over the world have served as canvases for Beever’s work.
Julian Beever’s Swimming-Pool in the High Street.
Go to http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm to see more.
Other street artists use 3-D effects as well. Tracy Lee Stum, who holds the record for the largest street painting by an individual, often does commissioned works for advertisers, events, and other sectors. To see some samples of her work, go to www.tracyleestum.com.
Salt Lake City, Utah, also held its annual Chalk Art Festival last weekend, with more than 100 artists and 20,000 visitors. If you want to attend one of these events there will be many more this summer. Check your local listings and remember to bring a camera!