Chalk the Block event changes effort to embrace community

Randy Petersen, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Sep. 25—ROCHESTER — An event originally created to connect communities amid COVID-19 restrictions hopes to bring the communities even closer.

Rochester's third

Chalk the Block event

is slated for 9:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, at Graham Park.

"This is kind of a new version of something RNeighbors and others have been doing off and on for several years," Rochester Mayor Norton said, referring to the

previously named Chalk the Walk

festivals.

The first "chalk" event was held in August 2020, with professional artists spread throughout the city in spaces assigned by RNeighbors, a nonprofit created to help form neighborhood networks and promote livable communities. A smaller 2022 event followed a similar format.

This year, instead of asking professional and amateur artists to create chalk designs in specific locations throughout the city, RNeighbors is bringing the artists together at a single location, which will highlight the diversity of the artwork and create a gathering place to build community.

"The artists we have registered — just by looking through the registration answers they gave — will highlight the differences in our community and highlight the special things each person brings," said Rene Halasy, RNeighbors' executive director.

The organization will provide grants to 11 professional artists, and more than nine other individuals and groups signed up as amateurs by Friday to create their own artwork for the event. Halasy said groups include families, as well as one representing a Rochester school.

All participants will be assigned a parking space south of the Rochester Farmers Market in Graham Park. They must create a design that fills at least a 4-foot by 4-foot square.

The professional artists' work will be voted on by attendees for a "People's Choice" award, and a judging panel will determine awards for other registered individuals and groups, which will be presented during a 2 p.m. ceremony.

Halasy said time remains for amateur artists and groups to register through the RNeighbors website,

rneighbors.org/call-for-artists-chalk-the-block-2023.

She said registering ahead of the event guarantees a space and makes participants eligible for a planned scavenger hunt.

There is a $10 registration fee, but it's waived for youth participants younger than 18.

For the youngest chalkers, the event will feature a kids' freestyle zone.

In addition to chalk art, the event will highlight poetry, with the Southeast Minnesota Poets having their own section to highlight interactive poetry.

The event will also feature community information tables and food trucks.

"It will be a fun community-building event," Norton said.

What: Chalk the Block, a free community event featuring chalk designs created by professional and amateur artists, as well as poetry.

When: 9:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30

Where: Graham Park, 112 Arena Drive SE, south of the Rochester Farmers Market site