In recent years, the Wisconsin Museum of Art in West Bend has attracted some 20,000 visitors to its Art and Chalk Summer Fest to see professional artists use the art museum as a concrete canvas.
In April, the museum’s executive director, Laurie Winters, and her staff said the collection was not in coVID’s favor. While they regretted the mandatory cancellation of the event, they came up with a new idea.
“We were a little bit nostalgic near the end of May about the festival, talking about how it would have been great if we could have done it,” said Winters. “Then we said, ‘well, why don’t we just have people chalk the streets of West Bend.’ And within two minutes we went from that to ‘let’s just have people chalk the whole state.'”
MOWA is inviting families throughout the state to use July 25 and 26 as an opportunity to get outside and be creative with sidewalk chalk on their sidewalks and driveways.
Winters said flowering is an available art form that a big apple can make, even those that don’t feel artistically more skilled.
“Even if you firmly feel that you don’t have talent, that doesn’t make sense for you to participate,” Winters said. “You can write one of the declarations of goodwill, a desire for your neighbors, a poem, anything to do.”
For inspiration, MOWA publishes an activity representative on its website, with more active sidewalk chalk activities for families with young children, such as scratches, crafts and other games.
Milwaukee artist Reginald Baylor also created a template of one of his paintings that other Americans can use for their colorful creations.
While the design’s goal is to allow families to chalk in their own neighborhoods, several organizations will welcome professional chalk artists, and some will open their sidewalks to the chalk audience.
“First we contacted the art museums and asked them to spread the word,” Winters said. “We were surprised when cities, boys’ clubs and YMACs began contacting us to invite us if they could also participate.
For other Americans who visit these public places, organizers ask any of them to stay six feet away from their best friend, an alternate, and to wear masks. In addition, the misleading acircular of the drawing of one of the professional artists can be overcome to deter other Americans from getting too close to the artist.
“It’s wonderful to see how this has become something that takes art off the four walls of a museum because that’s when art is at its best,” Winters said. “It can be wonderful to see other Americans walking down the street to see what their neighbors have created.”
I saw the MOWA to see which museums and art organizations will welcome professional artists and let the public design their sidewalks.
The representative of the activity can be downloaded from the MOWA website, and physical copies with loot bags can be obtained at MOWA on July 2, five and 26 from 10 a.m. to five p.m.
MOWA is at 20five Veterans Avenue in West Bend.
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Contact Amy Schwabe at (262) 875-9488 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter on @WisFamilyJS, Instagram on @wisfamilyjs or Facebo on WisconsinFamily.