POMONA - Thomas Plaza will start
out as a blank slate Saturday morning and end the afternoon
filled with artistic creations as part of the third annual
Chalk Art Festival.
More than 350 individuals and groups are expected to participate
in the event that brings people together around art.
An event such as this one "builds a community of
artists and art lovers," said Vicki Tessier, visual
and performing arts teacher specialist for Pomona Unified
School District and liaison between the district and the
Cultural Arts Commission.
The festival provides an opportunity to link visual arts
and literature by using as a theme this year's Pomona
Big Read selection, Jack London's "The Call of the
Wild," said Jonnie Owens, director of community outreach
for Cal Poly Pomona's College of Letters Arts and Social
Sciences and a member of the festival committee.
"It's just a natural," Owens said. "It's
just a great way to integrate literacy into art."
At a time when many school districts have had to take
money set aside for the arts to address day to day school
needs, events such as the festival bring academics and
the arts together, Owens said.
The two have a role to play in education, Tessier said.
"Art is an important part of an educational process,"
Tessier said.
The arts are cross-cultural and overcome language barriers
in addition to being "a vital and viable form of
communication," she said.
Every year the festival has been a hit and has drawn
artists of all ages and skill levels, said Mickey Gallivan,
a member of the city's Cultural Arts Commission.
"It's just amazing to see the talent of kids, and,
of course, of the artists, too," Gallivan said.
The event allows artists to create art in public and
allows the public to watch the creative process taking
place, Gallivan and others said.
People attend the festival to observe the artists in
action will see the many different methods of working
with chalk, Tessier said.
Some will use techniques used by great Italian artists
working on frescos and others will simply put chalk to
pavement, she said.
A total of 25 local artists are expected to participate
in the festival in addition to numerous teams representing
Pomona Unified middle schools and high schools, Tessier
said.
High school students see this as an opportunity to outdo
other schools by creating note worthy pieces and all of
their artistic skills, she said.
This year a new category was created that allows families
to participate, organizers said.
A total of 45 families have signed up to participate,
Tessier said.
"We really want to make it family-friendly but we
also want to make it art at heart," Tessier said.
Because the event is linked to the book "The Call
of the Wild" artists will have an environmentalist
theme to work with this year, she said.
As in year's past, the festival is sponsored by the commission
but is joined this year by the National Endowment for
the Arts, which provided the grant for the Pomona Big
Read.
The city submitted the grant application and included
the festival as an activity of the Big Read, Owens said.
When the festival began it was pictured as an enjoyable
art-related community event.
"It seemed like it was an artistic activity and
it didn't cost a lot of money," Gallivan said. "It
seemed perfect for downtown Pomona."
As the event continues to grown and take root, Gallivan
said she'd like to see the Chalk Art Festival become "something
people put on their calendar and do every year."
On Saturday artists will work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. all
around Thomas Plaza, which is at West Second and Thomas
Streets.
The event will conclude at 3 p.m. with an awards ceremony.
The Kiwanis Club of Pomona Valley will sell food at the
event with proceeds donated to the Cultural Arts Commission.
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