What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1151243
AUGUST 4-10, 2019 WHAT'S UP! 7 "That is the best part of chalking for me," Ken adds. "Chalk festivals give us a chance to spend quality time together, doing something that we both love. We occasionally work on the same piece, like a 3-D image of Arnold Schwarzenegger that Aislynn and I collaborated on this year, but more often than not we just attempt to complement each other's themes." Neither one expected chalk to be their medium of choice. "A chalk festival started in my hometown about 25 years ago," Ken explains. "It is an old medium, but the idea of a chalk festival was foreign to me. A friend had signed up and invited me to help. The experience hooked me, and I just kept going back for more." "I always enjoyed doing art, but I never really latched on to any particular medium until I started working with chalk," Aislynn says. "I think the combination of the performance art aspect and the time limit just inspired me to try other festivals." Both agree that while the medium is a familiar one, it's also more challenging than one might imagine. "So many factors go into creating a good piece," Aislynn says. "How good the surface you're working on is, what the weather is like, how much chalk you need to put down, even your mood can affect how your piece turns out! Definitely for me I have to be in a good headspace because if I don't like how it's turning out, the final product won't be up to my standards." "I love to do portraits, so detail is critical. That is the challenge — detail," Ken says. "Especially when working on smaller scale image. For most festivals we do the equivalent of a 10-by-10 image, which is more forgiving, but anything smaller can be difficult to effectively capture detail. You just have to take your time and be patient and hope for the best." Chalk is, of course, ephemeral, and sometimes that adds to the magic. "Nothing beats chalking on the street in my opinion," Aislynn says, "and I feel there's more of a sense of appreciation for the art because of its impermanence." "The best that you can do is cross your fingers that the weather holds long enough to get a few good photos, then post them in a portfolio or on social media and let the art live on there," Ken says. FAQ Chalk Festival WHEN — 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Aug. 10; noon-5 p.m. Aug. 11 WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville COST — Free; a $10 Ale Trail ticket is available for adults INFO — 657-2335, crystalbridges.org/ chalk-festival FYI Chalk Festival Artists Arkansas — Amber Winters Perrodin, Hubert Neal Jr., Octavio Logo Florida — Aislynn Mullen, Beth Shistle, Jennifer Nichols Chaparro, Ken Mullen Texas — Anat Ronen, Fernando Andrade, Liza Fishbone New York — Anthony Cappetto, Washington, D.C. — Chelsea Ritter-Soronen Colorado — Corbin Hillam Arizona — Eli Farias, Holly Lynn Schineller Georgia — Fawne DeRosia Indiana — Jasmine Pilkinton, Jeff Pilkinton (father and daughter) Tennessee — Jennifer Richardson, Tyler Key Ohio — Jennifer RoJeanne, Sheryl Lazenby Missouri — Joan Finn Utah — Tonya Youngberg "It's all for fun," artist Ken Mullen says of chalk art, "and it can be done by people of any age or skill level. The best part of chalking is the people that you meet, though. The chalking community is very supportive of new chalkers. I have never seen an experienced chalker who wasn't happy to give help or advice to a beginner. We have all learned from each other, so we try to pay it forward." Courtesy Images "Nothing beats chalking on the street in my opinion, and I feel there's more of a sense of appreciation for the art because of its impermanence," says artist Aislynn Mullen. "You should expect that things will happen to your art; it's on the ground! Kids will come running on to it, trash will blow on to it, and it could potentially rain; there are endless hazards. Essentially, expect the unexpected.