Tribute to Sidewalk Sam at the Cambridge River Festival 2015
This was one of the most meaningful creative experiences that I have had. After a beloved Boston-area chalk artist Sidewalk Sam passed away in 2015, the Cambridge Arts Council hired me to design, manage and implement a large-scale participatory chalk art tribute to the artist. The first picture is with Sidewalk’s family.
Loved: 900+ people coming together to participate, honoring Sidewalk Sam
Learned: participant engagement at a large-scale event
Chalk Art – Festivals 2005-2012
I have always been attracted to the ephemeral aspects of Chalk Art and the humility that working on the ground gives you. Rain, but also the shuffling of unexpecting feet, endanger the making and the life span of your creation. My first experience was in 2004, when a good friend asked me if I would like to come along and volunteer my creative skills for a festival in Denver. Paid festival opportunities followed, and I was happy to contribute my abilities to communities in Colorado and on the East Coast. In 2008, I took a part in the Denver Chalk Art Festival. In 2012, I was hired by Harvard University to do Chalk Art during the London Olympic Games. It was a historic occasion for more than one reason — chalk art has never been created inside the Harvard Yard before.
Chalk Art – Corporate commissions
“You have to come back and fix it,” was the request of one of my clients in Boston who has hired me to chalk their logo on a large black wall at their new office location. The grand opening was approaching fast and the work that I have just created has already been smudged by curious construction and administrative workers in need of a proof that it was made in chalk. It was a flattering response to my work, even if I did now have to fix it.
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