The Denver Chalk Art Festival

My husband and I attended the free Denver Chalk Art Festival this past weekend. More than 200 artists turn the streets of Larimer Square into a gallery of street art paintings of all subjects.

The Denver Chalk Art Festival is produced by the Larimer Arts Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting arts awareness in Denver.

The weather was beautiful this weekend, and the festival was very well attended.

It was fascinating to watch the artists complete their beautiful chalk art--many pieces were reproductions of famous paintings

This colorful portrait of Marilyn Monroe attracted a lot of attention.

The artists are professional, amateur and student artists from around the country, although the majority are from Colorado.  To participate, artists must complete an application and submit a rendering of the artwork they intend to create during the festival. There is no cost to the artist and pastels are provided to them unless they wish to use their own.

I liked the red rock background and "unplug" message of this artwork! I certainly have been "unplugged quite a bit these busy grand-parenting days!

A beautiful stylized Rocky Mountain scene in this drawing.

We attended the festival on Sunday afternoon, so many of the artworks were almost completed.

This curved drawing of superheroes sitting at a table was accompanied by a mirror from which to view it.

I thought this "yellow brick road' drawing would be a fun illustration for a child's room, as the brick road could begin on the floor and end with this drawing on the wall.

The event follows street painting traditions that originated in 16th century Renaissance Italy, when itinerant artists began creating art with chalk on the streets, in exchange for coins from passerby. The artists were called "madonnari," after their customary practice painting images of the Madonna.

Some of the portraits were very realistic.....

....and some were whimsical.

Just look at all the shades of chalk one artist was using!

There were so many artworks on display, that I could not possibly show them all, but I made photo collages of some that I liked.  All photos in this post can be enlarged for easier viewing by double clicking on the photo.

 Did you find a favorite drawing?

The city of Denver uses special street sweepers to remove the chalk drawings the night the festival ends. Since the artists layer an estimated 175 pounds of fine pastel chalk on the street, the sweepers ensure that the chalk is properly disposed of and will not pollute nearby Cherry Creek.  It is sad to see the artworks disappear, but the chalk artists look at their work as performance art, where the process of creating the piece is more important than the final result. They certainly brighten the streets of Denver for two days!

On our way back to our car we walked along the 16th Street pedestrian mall in Denver, where the "Keys to the City" pianos were still available for use to anyone who wished to play them. You can read about this program on my blog at this link.

Oh, and in case anyone worries that I miss the quirkiness of New York City, rest assured that Denver is also a city that offers sights you won't see anywhere else! (Smile)

It was also my husband's birthday this weekend and we celebrated with a barbecue at our house. He was happy to have two grand helpers help blow out his candles!

I love him so much!

It's not always easy to get all the grands together at a time when they are all happy to take a photo, but I was able to gather our son and daughter and our three grandchildren for this photo before they went back to eating their ice cream cake!

 Thank you all for your very comforting comments about the passing of our family cat, Bo.  I really appreciated your sympathy as to how much a pet is part of the family.  He was the very best cat I ever had the privilege of sharing our lives with, and he will now be a part of our hearts and memories forever.