By Judy Shuler
In the 1500s, Italian artists traveled from town to town, creating chalk drawings of the Madonna. They earned their living from coins tossed their way as they drew on the ground. The tradition continued for hundreds of years and still can be found today. Varied street art also began popping up in countries like England and Germany.
On Saturday, July 2, the centuries-old art form is coming to Mayville. All are invited to pick up chalk and transform sidewalks from the village park, at the traffic light, down S. Erie St. to the library and back-on both sides of the street.
The 1st Annual Sidewalk Chalk Contest is spearheaded by Sorena Gilkinson, Associate Real Estate Broker with ERA Team VP, professional photographer and owner of Handcrafted from the Heart, and Ariel Cartwright, owner of The Mayberry Jungle.
“Each artist can have one sidewalk ‘block’ as their canvas,” Gilkinson says. “We would like to cover the sidewalks in beautiful artwork.”
Starting time for the daylong event is 9am. There is no cost and organizers will even provide chalk upon request. Registration is open in advance and on the day of the event. Local businesses will provide prizes in different categories, with winners judged by a small panel of Mayville residents.
Gilkinson says she came across a chalk art contest in another part of the U.S. on Facebook years ago and screenshotted the event.
“I was going through my screenshots one day recently and thought this would be a good time to put this fun event together. I approached Ariel about it to see if she wanted to put it on with me. Ariel, like myself, is very community-oriented and knew that she would like to be involved.”
“We want to have fun, give the kids and adults something different to do, we want to see everyone’s beautiful artwork cover the sidewalks. We are promoting positivity within the beautiful village that we have. Anything that we can do is a step in the right direction.” Over 125 people have responded on their Facebook page.
In 2017 Gilkinson started the group #MayvilleNY Rocks, at a time when the idea of hiding painted rocks in public places was growing in popularity throughout the country. “We have had lots of participants over the years and lots of rocks that have been painted, hidden, found, and loved.”
#MayvilleNY Rocks is listed as sponsor for The 1st Annual Sidewalk Chalk Contest. The internet is filled with ideas and inspiration for chalk art, from geometric designs to three-dimensional scenes. First annual U.S. chalk art festival was held in Santa Barbara, CA, in 1986.
Further information about the Mayville chalk contest is available on Facebook. It will be rescheduled in event of bad weather.