Artists’ talents brought to bear on streets
CAMBRIDGE — Just a hint of colour remained on the wet pavement.
But chalk artists Lori Hughes and Erik Greenawalt were stoic after a sudden downpour erased in just minutes what took them a whole day to create.
“This is what happens. This is the nature of the art,” Greenawalt said. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
The pair — who create fleeting art together under the moniker The Chalk Monsters — was at the second annual Cambridge International Street Art Festival held in Galt on the weekend.
The historic downtown was dotted with colourful works by acclaimed street chalk and graffiti artists from all over the world, along with local artists. Kids and adults could also try their hand at making art with chalk or spray paint.
“I think we’ve brought in some extraordinarily talented people,” said festival president Brian Price, who was expecting between 15,000 to 20,000 people to come out.
Artists began working on their creations as early as Monday, with the festival in full swing on the weekend.
Hughes and Greenawalt painted a portrait of characters Dr. Evil and Austin Powers, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday and finishing at 8 p.m. that night.
“At least we got to finish,” Hughes said. “Every one we’ve done together we’ve finished.”
Finished and photographed before the downpour Sunday morning, thankfully.
Standing next to the puddle that was their art, the pair contemplated the
long drive home with Hughes coming from Columbus, Ohio, and Greenawalt from Pittsburg, Pa.
The rain quickly scattered onlookers on the closed Main Street bridge where the chalk artists were working. Ironically, it was rain that brought big crowds out on Saturday when the sky was sunny but the Grand River was raging, swollen from Friday’s glut of rain.
“I think half the crowd was here to watch the river,” Greenawalt said.
Other artists scrambled with the first drops of rain Sunday to cover their chalk creations with cardboard and plastic to keep them as dry as possible.
“It happens,” said Bridget Lyons from Tampa, Fla.
She’s been a chalk artist for seven years, travelling around the world painting on streets.
“I like to work large,” said Lyons, wearing a shirt that read “Chalk Dirty to Me.”
Her hands, feet and legs were covered with chalk dust from working on a vibrant recreation of a painting of a woman with fish and octopus spanning three metres.
Chalk art, she said, is not necessarily about the finished product. It’s about being in the moment with the spectators, like a musician playing at a street corner.
“It’s a performance art,” Lyons said.
It’s a performance Brian Rodnick got a brief glimpse of Sunday, arriving just 15 minutes before the rain.
“We got to see everything and I got photos of everything,” Rodnick said.
When the clouds parted to let blue sky peak through, Rodnick surveyed the damage to the chalk art on the bridge. Standing in front of the washed away portrait of Mike Myers’ dueling characters, he sighed: “I did like this one, actually.”