Last weekend I had the honor of participating in a chalk collaboration that honored our friend Edwin Aguilar, who passed away recently. We miss him very much but we know he is now without pain or illness. My condolences to all of his family and friends.
For our second chalk collaboration, we chose to chalk the Headless Horseman for Halloween. The figure is traditionally depicted as a man upon horseback who is missing his head. Since the pandemic lock down, the Boston Court Theatre in Pasadena has remained closed to the public and they gave us permission to chalk in their parking lot. That was super nice of them!
I’ll be chalking a square on Oct. 17 at the Riverside Plaza. Riverside Plaza and chalk artists will follow all state and local COVID regulations, and chalk artists will be socially distant from one another and from the public. Attendees are also asked to observe COVID safety precautions outlined by state and local health officials.
During the covid-19 pandemic, many artists have not had the chance to attend any art events around the country. During one of our online zoom hangout meetings, we came up with the idea that we could create a collaborative chalk piece at home. That’s how the idea of chalking our kraken came about. We came up with “kraken” because around the time that we chalked it, we would have been chalking at the Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival which is held each year at Harbor Village in September. We started with our sketch and divided it into six panels, which were assigned to the six artist collaborators, with the instructions that they could each add whatever whey wanted to their kraken panel. The participating artists are myself, Lori Antointte W, Mri Scott ElBey, Marcella Swett, Keith Dubois, and Monica Orozco Thaller.
Behold my 2020 Census campaign below! I had so much fun chalking this square for the Census Bureau, in the City of El Monte. Hey everyone, the deadline to complete your 2020 Census has been extended to the end of September! Get the word out, Everybody Counts! For more information visit Los Angeles County Office of Education.
I am excited to participate in the 2020 LA County Census Chalkathon. From August 17 – September 7, there will be weekly giveaways on Facebook live. Everyone counts in the 2020 Census and Los Angeles County has many more households to count! Results from the 2020 Census will support our community for the next 10 years. In addition to funding for healthcare, public safety, roads and schools, the Census is important because nonprofits depend on Census data to determine funding for the arts, Pell Grants and much more. So get your chalks out, chalk your heart out and post using the hashtags #LACcensuschalkathon #CaStudentsCount, and most important, fill out your Census form. Everyone Counts! ¡Todos Contamos! 2020Census.Gov.
It’s the middle of summer and Covid-19 still has all outdoor gatherings cancelled! That still doesn’t stop us from making art at home. This year I participated in Chalk Mafia’s first annual Epic Virtual Chalk Fest for the Fourth of July weekend. I challenged myself by creating a flag with lots of folds in it.
Covid-19 did not stop the festival chalkers from chalking at this year’s 2020 Pasadena Chalk Festival. The event was cancelled, but we all chalked at home! This year, my chalk square was about hope. I hope all is well with everyone, and I hope this pandemic ends well for all of us.