Grab some chalk and color the walkways at Holland's Windmill Island Gardens

Evan Sasiela, The Holland Sentinel
·2 min read

HOLLAND — A new event in Holland will bring beautiful colors to the walkways of Windmill Island Gardens.

"Chalk the Walk" is set for 1-3 p.m. Saturday, July 15. Artists of all ages can decorate the walkways of Windmill Island with chalk. The event has a theme of “Celestial Summer,” and artist Hallie LeBlanc will draw live throughout the park.

Windmill Island Gardens Programs Coordinator Andrea Bork said the event is brand new. Bork was inspired by chalk events from other cities and wanted to bring the concept to Holland.

“I'm hoping people will walk away from this event happy to have spent some time being creative, soaking up some summer sun and enjoying their own and other people’s artwork,” Bork said.

Bork is anticipating a high turnout for the event, with 900 people indicating they're “interested” on Facebook.

“The goal of this event is to provide a fun, low-cost outing to the community where they can spend a day outdoors being creative, surrounded by beautiful summer flowers,” Bork said. “This event should be a fun day to get out of the house with a change in scenery from home, and a new canvas that people of any age and any artistic skill-set can create something on.”

A new event in Holland will bring beautiful colors to the walkways of Windmill Island Gardens.
A new event in Holland will bring beautiful colors to the walkways of Windmill Island Gardens.

LeBlanc is the artist behind Abundance Mobile Art Studio, Bork said. She's a Grand Rapids resident who earned her master's from the Kendall College of Art and Design, according to her studio website.

“She's been great to work with so far and is very talented and creative — we're excited to see her mock-up designs come to life soon,” Bork said.

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Windmill will sell four pieces of chalk for $1 while supplies last. Bork encourages participants to bring chalk from home, if they're able. Any artwork that's appropriate and family-friendly is welcome.

“I'm looking forward to seeing what the community will come up with,” Bork said.

The event takes place shortly before Windmill Island’s annual Peak Week, set for July 23-29, when summer perennial and annual flowers will be at peak bloom.

“Welcoming people into our park to enjoy how beautiful our landscaping is and appreciate how hard our horticulture team works every day outside of tulip season is something we're always happy to do,” Bork said.

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Chalk the Walk to color walkways at Holland's Windmill Island Gardens