Chalk Murals come to life at the Pasadena Chalk Festival
Pasadena Chalk Festival from Alicia Edquist on Vimeo.
Bright colored murals and more than 600 artists filled the Paseo Colorado at the twenty first annual Pasadena Chalk Festival held on June 15 -16 in Pasadena, Calif.
On Saturday morning, artists began to set up in the designated locations and start murals. The artists created murals individually or in groups.
Throughout the day the murals began to take shape after some artists had used grids to map out the murals and other artists did the murals by freehand. The grids would become covered as the chalk was added to the mural.
Each artist had a unique way of how he would begin a mural. Some murals began in the middle of a square while others worked from one side to the other.
The Southern California heat did not keep people away. The Paseo Colorado was filled with locals, tourists and people who came from surrounding cities to see the event. Hundreds of people were expected at this year’s event.
Some of the murals displays included places in California, favorite characters, ocean life, commercial art, vibrant colors of traditional Mexican murals, portrait replication, tributes and murals that were inspired on the spot.
Colors of chalk ranged from bright to neutral depending on the theme of the mural.
The artists interacted with the people passing by the works. People asked questions and could posed with artists. Most people would stand near the murals and observe the artists techniques.
Some artists only used the chalk in their hands to create the murals while others got their hands dirty blending the chalk.
There was a few participants who traveled from out of state to be at the festival to take part. Students from local art groups participated in creating works together.
Participants ranged from beginners to professionals.
Not all artists were expecting to finish before the deadline for the contest on the first day. Most artists were not planning on being finished until the next day.
For more information on the Pasadena Chalk Festival
Alicia Edquist
My name is Alicia Edquist, and I am a multimedia educator and journalist. I have a Masters of Arts degree in New Media Journalism at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla. I work in Journalism & Media Studies department at a local community college in Southern California. I have my AA degree in journalism with a bachelor’s of science in Christian Ministry.
