The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Chalk Fest returns to Riverside High School
About 120 Riverside Campus art students showcased their creativity during the third annual Chalk Fest event.
About 120 Riverside Campus art students showcased their creativity during the third annual Chalk Fest event on Sept. 27.
Jessica Biller, who is an art teacher at Riverside, said Chalk Fest is done in conjunction with Spirit Week so the community can get to see the students’ talents.
The chalk designs were completed just in time for Riverside’s homecoming parade and community prep rally that was scheduled later that day
“It’s like an art gallery, just on the sidewalks,” Biller said.
Chalk Fest is voluntary and participation continues to grow. It is open to any student who signed up for fine arts.
“We definitely had more students this year,” she said.
Students who worked in small groups submitted sketches and executed those drawings on the sidewalk around the school. They were responsible for purchasing their own art tools including sidewalk chalk and chalk pastels.
There were a lot of Chalk Fest first-timers.
Sofia Langlois, who is in eighth grade, said she wanted to try something new and thought it would be fun.
While Sofia did find the activity enjoyable, she said blending colors was the biggest challenge.
To prepare students for this sidewalk art project, Biller said they work on chalk techniques in class. They learn about outlining, shading and blending.
This non-graded activity gave students the opportunity to apply the skills learned in class to a unique canvas.
Biller was pleased with the amount of effort and thought that went into each design.
“A lot of kids picked themes, which was not required, but nice to see,” she said. “There was a lot of variety. I hope to see us go all the way around the school next year.”
In the meantime, the community will be able to enjoy the current designs for quite a while.
“Some of the colors were showing through the snow last year,” Biller said.