Chalk YOUR Walk competition will draw from across New York

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
·2 min read

Jun. 15—The Lewiston Council on the Arts is once again taking the Chalk YOUR Walk competition online — but there'll be a bit more competition.

This year, the competition is open to anyone in New York state. Participants can compete from the comfort of their own driveway, an area parking lot, path or park.

The theme is Imagine, Explore & Create! Nature, music, animals, hobbies, books, sports.... anything can be the inspiration a mural. Guidelines and instructions can be found on the Art Council website https://artcouncil.org/ and on its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lewistonartscouncil/.

The competition went online last year amid COVID-19 and social distancing. In 2020, the competition was open to residents of Western New York and organizers said when all was said and done, chalk artists from 26 zip codes submitted 53 images that were posted to the Art Council Facebook page where the public could then decide on the People's Choice Winner by registering their 'likes'. Almost 7,000 votes were cast for murals.

"For 35 years, our WNY High School Chalk Walk Competition has always been a highlight of the Lewiston Art Festival. I didn't think anything we replaced it with would even come close to the colorful images drawn by the hard working teens who spend hours perfecting their murals but moving the event online opened it up to people of all ages and talents. We are thrilled with the response and the innovative, creative images sent to us," said Kathryn Serianni.

For this year's competition, participants simply take a picture of their artwork, email it with the artist's name, age, zip code and a short artist statement about their inspiration to Kathryn@ArtCouncil.org by Aug. 1.

Judges will select the Best of Show winner ($500 prize) and all the submissions will be posted on the Lewiston Council on the Arts Facebook page and the People's Choice Award ($250) determined by online voting. On Aug. 14, winners will be announced at the Lewiston Art Festival and on Facebook.

Chalk YOUR Walk is sponsored by KeyBank and Hyatt's All Things Creative!

For more information call 754-0166 email: artstaff@artcouncil.org.