Artwork will be returning to Mount Vernon’s streets in just two weekends, when Chalk the Walk returns.
At the Monday, April 4, council meeting, orders went out for the oil chalk for the 2022 festival at a cost of roughly $4,000.
This year marks the 17th anniversary of the festival in uptown Mount Vernon.
Coloring on the roadways will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 7 and May 8, with awards ceremony to begin Sunday, May 8, where prizes including artist of the year and community choice awards will be made.
“Mount Vernon and the Chalk the Walk committee are beyond excited to celebrate Mount Vernon’s biggest and best warm weather festival,” said Matt Siders, Director of Parks and Rec for the City of Mount Vernon and Chair of the Chalk the Walk Committee. “The committee thought long and hard and we have decided that this year we would honor 1980s artist Keith Haring, an artist who believed in creating art for the masses through subway graffiti and community murals.”
The community collaborative piece for 2022 will be Haring’s “Retrospect.” For a $10 donation to the festival, any interested festival participant will be given a set of chalk sticks and create a single 2’ by 2’ square of a portion of the image. This centerpiece of Chalk the Walk will be colored with pastel chalk by dozens of artists of all ages and abilities.
Also returning will be Bryce Cox, the artist of the year from 2021’s Chalk the Walk festival.
Roads will begin being closed for the festival early Saturday morning, but signage and reminders not to park downtown will be made Friday evening beginning at 5 p.m. Closures will stretch on First Street from Hwy. 1 to Third Avenue and First Street from Hwy. 1 to A Avenue.
The area between City Hall and the old fire station is open and available for kids of all ages to practice their chalk art.
Chalk the Walk is based on an original art form that began in Italy in the 16th century. Called Madonnari, this form of public art was originally done by street artists hoping to collect coins from passersby. Images back then were based on religious themes, and as the Madonna was a popular subject, the artists became known as the “Madonnari.”
Outdoor food vendors and musicians will be on hand throughout both days of the event.
This event is hosted by the City of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon Parks and Recreation, the Mount Vernon Area Arts Council, and the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group.