Chalk artists will return to downtown St. Joseph August 6-8 to showcase their talents and compete in the twenty-fifth annual Chalk the Block festival organized by St. Joseph Today.
Artists will prepare their concrete canvases on Friday and work throughout the day on Saturday. Completed works can be viewed on Sunday. Admission to the event is free each day.
Attendees can vote for their favorite chalk creation in the People’s Choice contest. Tickets to vote will be sold 12-8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Sunday for $1 apiece at the People’s Choice Tent. Attendees are encouraged to vote for multiple works.
Chalk the Block was created 25-years ago by St. Joseph Today to draw a crowd to downtown St. Joseph, where they may stay to shop and dine in local restaurants. Restaurants, cafes and retailers regularly cite Chalk the Block weekend as one of their busiest of the year.
“Every event we do is with the intention of attracting business to the community,” said Amy Zapal, Executive Director of St. Joseph.
“Chalk the Block is a great weekend in Saint Joe with lots to do and lots to see. It’s a family-friendly festival that showcases regional, national and international artists, with the quaint lakeside town as their backdrop.”
The event was originally made of mostly local artists. In recent years, the event has attracted national talent, raising the quality of work and creating an incubator-effect for local artists.
Sean McCann, a Minnesota-based artist and co-founder of Chalkfest at Arbor Lakes, has been participating in Chalk the Block for about five years.
“It’s amazing how the quality of the amateurs has skyrocketed in the past years,” McCann said. “Whenever you are surrounded by creative people, the quality of work always goes up.”
Art consumers oftentimes only get to see the final product when the artist is finished. Not so, with chalk festivals.
“The great thing with chalk festivals is you get to see how artists work, so you can develop new techniques to practice,” McCann said. “I learned by watching other professionals work. We do give tips and pointers when people ask for them, but you don’t even have to talk to somebody to see how they work.”
Traveling artists also benefit from the exposure to a new market in southwest Michigan, which is consuming large-scale public art at an increasing rate. McCann secured several contracts in the area based on his work at Chalk the Block, including the large squirrel mural on the Holt Bosse building on State Street.
Local artist and educator Kimberly Wood, who started working in chalk at Chalk the Block, now travels the country to a variety of chalk festivals, winning awards and attracting more artists like McCann to southwest Michigan along the way.
Many artists travel through the summer on a similar chalk festival “circuit,” and few festivals are as desired by artists as Chalk the Block.
“People want to come to Chalk the Block year after year,” McCann said. “I think their festival blows it out of the park for utilization of the space they have.
“Amy (Zapal) and her staff take really good care of us. They house the artists with great host families who become like a second family to us. We really get to feel like we’re a part of the community.
“I really encourage people to come out (on Saturday) and enjoy the process,” McCann said. “The process is what makes it fun. We really create a no-judgement zone, and we’re learning as professionals as well.
“For anyone who is interested in making art, or watching art get made, or has an itch to try it, I’d say to ‘just go for it.”’
