Chalk the Walk Festival

The pavement was their canvas and chalk was the tool of choice. Over four days Pyrmont Bridge became a site for what some would call “graffiti”, yet for the forty artists who struggled against the rain, wind and sun; it was all done in the name of art.

The third annual Chalk the Walk Festival was held from 20-23 September with 120,000 people attending over the three days. The only chalk festival in Australia, Festival Director, Andi Mether came up with the concept when she heard about the tradition of chalking pavements in Europe from a friend.

“It was something different. It wasn’t being done here. There are some really great chalk artists in Australia, but people always talk about the ones from around the world. Well, it was like wait a minute, we can do this too. Let’s show everyone what we can do.”

Over the three years, the festival has grown in terms of the number of artists participating and recognition the festival receives. This year featured seven more artists than last year.

The festival is even attracting international interest, with artists from overseas eager to participate.

“We do get a lot of enquiries from overseas as well, but when you actually inform them of where Sydney actually is they withdraw!”

The artists had to produce a two by three metre artwork over three days, battling the elements and going through an untold number of chalk boxes, before the artworks were washed away on the Monday morning.

The artworks ran the gamut from political satire, the abstract and the personal in subject matter. The ‘Moaning Howard’ was a playful parody of the ‘Mona Lisa’; another artwork was drawn in the format of a comic strip about childhood loneliness and won the most ‘emotive’ award.

On the judging panel was Charmaine Moldrich from SHFA (Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority), Jo Litson arts writer from News Ltd, Claus von Hessberg pavement artist for thirty years. They judged according to technique, concept and how the artist related to public.

“Pavement art really differs from a piece hanging in an exhibition because the whole performance aspect has to come into it as well,” said Andi.

The judging went over the allocated hour, giving some indication of the difficulty the judges faced in choosing the winning artworks.

The decision was unanimous; Anton Pulverenti won the ‘champion artist’ for his portrait of his daughter, Rudy Kistler won ‘highly commended’ for his dragon eye aerial view of the world and Ulla Taylor won the ‘people’s choice’ for her piece on the history of Cockle Bay. The prizes included money; $5000 for Anton and $1000 each for Rudy and Ulla and faber-castell art materials for each of the winners valued at over $1000.
 
Three new categories were created, because of the “high standard” of this year’s entries. ‘Best novice’ was awarded to Chanel Sohier for her portrait of Max Ernst, along with a contract to turn her design into t-shirts. ‘Most contemporary’ was awarded to Simon Thomas for his ‘Incredibles’ superhero racing through town piece, with his design to be printed by Avant Card. Finally, ‘most emotive’ was awarded to Joe Blanck for his comic book frames on childhood loneliness.

An appreciation of just how much work goes into producing a Chalk the Walk entry was gathered from an understanding of the weather conditions the artists faced.

It rained on Friday turning it into a non-productive day in terms of chalking – “I found my artwork in a puddle and had to move over and start again,” artist Jeffrey Hamilton said. Artists had to contend with wind, cold and sunburn on Saturday, but Sunday was a blessedly sunny day, free of rain and wind.

“The wind is the worst,” said Anton Pulverenti, the champion pavement artist for this year’s festival. His artwork was inspired by his daughter, depicting her in the different stages of life as an angelic cherub crawling inside and outside a picture frame.

Not only was it a battle against the elements, but it was also a battle against the pavement itself. “It is not the most ideal canvas to be working on,” Simon Thomas laughed. “You get raw fingertips,” he said. A smoother surface would have been more ideal, but it is all part of the experience and strategy of the Festival, he said.

Others embraced the impermanence of the practice by working with, not against, the pavement. Jeffrey Hamilton titled his artwork “Kandinsky and Co.” “It is a response to the bitumen,” he said.

A diverse range of artists were gathered to participate in the festival. First-time chalk artists worked side-by-side with full-time chalk artists.

“It’s probably Australia’s biggest art class,” said Andi.

Artists came from backgrounds as diverse as animation and design, sketching, glass sculptures and spray painting.

“You’ve got artists that have worked in oils or watercolours or acrylics or graffiti or stencil artists. That is their usual medium then they have to translate that to the pavement and it is very interesting to see how that happens,” says Andi.

First time Chalk the Walk participant, Sally Leaney, commented on the atmosphere of sharing and learning that characterised the festival for the artists.

“I learnt almost everything I needed to know about working with chalk from the range
of talented souls at this event. And I had some great conversations. As a first timer to chalk it was important to observe, listen and ask.”

“There was good camaraderie amongst the artists,” said Jeffrey.

He acknowledges it can get lonely when you are isolated in your studio. “It is good to get the feedback from the public.”

There is a real performative aspect to the artwork, with a focus on an interaction not only between artists but also between spectators too. The site of the festival, Pyrmont Bridge, encourages this with artists being placed side-by-side and spectators having to weave their way through the works.

“Chalk the Walk provides them [artists] with the opportunity to network with other artists, the opportunity to find out from the public what they look for when they are buying art, and the other thing is that they have a lot of fun.”

Artists were comfortable with the idea of their art being washed away. That’s the nature of the medium, Sally Leaney said. “As long as you get a good photo it’s all okay!”

Not only was it a day to promote and celebrate creative art in a public space, but also donations collected for each artwork were pooled together to be given to Father Chris Riley’s Getting Youth Off The Streets program. $4000 was raised on the day. “Not bad for small change,” said Andi. “Mind you we did have a couple $100 notes in the bucket.”

The message that can be taken from the festival is that art is for everyone, Andi said.

“It’s about expressing yourself. You don’t have to be an artist, but it is a good outlet.”

“It is also good to see how much work goes into it instead of writing off a piece of artwork and giving it three seconds of your time and going ‘Yeah, that’s all right’.”

“Go down to Chalk the Walk and see the next Michelangelo working down there and see how much hard work goes into it. Appreciate the price tag attached to the artwork.”

See the artwork from the 40 artists on the day here.

Check out the winners from previous years and learn more about how you can apply to be an artist at next year’s festival at the Chalk the Walk website: www.chalkthewalk.com