Calling artists of all ages and abilities, it's time again to decorate Jefferson City, at least until the next rain shower.
The 26th annual Capital Jazzfest and Capital Chalk Art Fair will bring together lovers of visual and audible mediums for a free community event at 1 p.m. Sept. 9, this year at the Riverside Park Amphitheatre. Amateur and professional artists will put their hearts on the winding sidewalks while live music - featuring vocalist/songwriter Megan Birdsall - wafts through the park.
Event organizer and Capital Arts Executive Director Leann Porrello said it is an uplifting environment where participants have a chance to win prize money while getting to know other area artists.
"We just really encourage people to get out, be active, enjoy nature and enjoy the parks the city has to offer," she said. "We have all ages, from young to older, and all different skill groups. We've had kids who are 2 years old creating their own chalk art (along with) people in their 80s and 90s."
Chalk competitors will have from 1-5 p.m. to draw within a designated 3-by-5-foot section of sidewalk. The pieces will be judged on a four-point scale for five criteria: appearance, design elements, creativity, craftsmanship and completion. A perfect score would be 20 total points.
Porrello said the surfaces of Riverside Park sidewalks work well for chalk art, and the small sidewalk spaces will give participants a greater chance to complete their pieces than in previous downtown fairs when the spaces were larger and sometimes hindered by oil stains or asphalt cracks.
Sidewalk chalk isn't just for the children anymore. The medium has become a major facet of street art, with elaborate pieces popping up on sidewalks around the world. Professional chalk artists use their public pieces to critique culture and politics, advertise for major brands and create 3D illusions.
Veteran Chalk Art Fair competitor Jennifer Neff hopes to see more adults on the sidewalk this year. Since the event is free and chalk is provided, many passersby have joined in over the years, but she said children often make up most of the group.
"I would like to see more people involved," Neff said. "There are a ton of kids involved, because kids aren't scared to draw, but adults are. Granted I'm going to be 40 years old, and sometimes I feel kind of silly crawling around drawing on the street, but it's therapeutic and it's relaxing. It gets me out in the community."
The local Jefferson City artist has won the amateur, professional and group categories, but Neff said the best part of participating in the event is sharing the experience. Her favorite Capital Chalk Art Fair memory is of an elderly woman in a wheel chair asking to contribute to Neff's piece.
"She was as sweet as can be," Neff recalled. "She said, 'I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt or bother you, but I don't get around very well, and I just want to put a little bit of color on your piece.' It turns out she raised gobs and gobs of foster kids and her own kids. One of her kids was with her, and he and I helped support her so she could just scribble in my chalk art. She just wanted to have her hand in it. That touched me."
No matter how special the piece, sidewalk chalk is an ephemeral art form. While stone sculptures stand for centuries, hours of planning and execution go into creating public chalk pieces that may not survive the evening. But, Neff said that is one thing she likes about it. At home, her usual go-to is oil paint, but for a full-time artist like Neff, sometimes it's nice to know her work won't be around forever.
"Art is about the process, not the final product. The great thing about sidewalk chalk is that it's done when time's up, and it is what it is," Neff said. "You can take pictures to remember it, but you don't have to go back and look at it over and over again and see all those tiny things that are a little bit not right. I love that about it."
For more information about the Capital Jazzfest and Capital Chalk Art Fair, call Capital Arts at 573-635-8355; visit CapitalArts.org; call Jazz Forward Intiative, Inc. at 573-635-6866; or visit CapJazz.org.