A mother and daughter pair, Shari and Jessica Bartlett, designed a Joker with bells on the hat. As Jessica noted, they had seen an article about the event and just decided to do it.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

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Chalk Walk: A Chance to Play in the Street

June 10, 2012       1 Comments
By: John Keuvelaar

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Bay City's June installment of "First Thursdays" was presented by Northwood University with the theme of "Where the Arts Meet Business."

As part of this night's event, the 2012 Chalk Walk and Street Party embraced the theme by closing off 3rd Street and letting the artist have-at-it on the pavement of Bay City. Artist of various ages and skills took to the street filling it with style, design and color as they drew and displayed "chalk art."

Meanwhile, bands played music for the patrons' enjoyment as they gazed at the talented designs and sampled the local stores extended hours. The one thing that outdoor promoters always fear is rain and especially with a chalk drawing event. Unfortunately, just as the artists finished up their designs and awaited the official opening of the evening's festivities, a heavy rain shower blasted the street and designs.

While many artists were able to cover and preserve their street canvas, others were not as fortunate washing away beautiful designs.

And while the prevailing sunshine and great tunes livened up the spirits of those attending, it was the proverbial "early birds" that did get to see some outstanding artwork before the rains dampened the color or washed away the designs.

For the artists, their spirits were undaunted as they enjoyed the experience and vowed to return better than ever. Of the artists who participated in the event, one was a mother and daughter pair, Shari and Jessica Bartlett, who designed a joker with bells on the hat. As Jessica noted, they had seen an article about the event and just decided to do it.

Jessica went through her sketch drawings from her days at Bay City Central, selected one and six hours of drawing and shading later, it was done.

Emily Flood, another Central graduate of a few years ago, decided to take her love of art and sketching and give it a go. Her first time chalk sketching looked more like a seasoned vet at pavement art as she drew a Lion Fish with all its colors.

Other art work was quite elaborate either telling a story of life or the community we call Michigan with their local or state wide themes. Two MSU students, Nicole Nalazek and Rachel Hoffman shared their first time laundry experiences while away at college as a theme for their elaborate collage of colors.

Andrea Techlin and Jill Kolka both of Saginaw met in an art class at SVSU and have become great friends. This was just another opportunity to enjoy their friendship and creative skills as they drew "Greetings from Bay City" a pictorial tribute of our fair city. Each artist showed a passion for their artwork or theme as they endured over 6 hours of drawing on the hot pavement.

Judging from the photos of last year, the interest in this art show has increased as both sides of the street were filled with elaborate artwork as was most of the center of the street. Even more importantly is that the seeds for such creativity were planted as many "young" artists were encouraged to and gladly join in to playing in the street with chalk.

2012 Chalk Walk and Street Party was a welcomed addition to the "First Thursday" night as well as a kickoff to the Riverside Art Fair being held on the weekend.

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"The BUZZ" - Feedback From Readers!

techlinandrea Says:       On June 09, 2012 at 11:13 AM Thank you, John for helping us cover and save our artwork when it started to rain!

Agree? or Disagree? Leave a Comment!

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John Keuvelaar
John Keuvelaar is a college student at Midwest Photography Workshops and Delta College. More from John Keuvelaar

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