https://vimeo.com/210879327
The epitome of Foothill culture: approximately 150 artists sprawled barefoot atop blankets, slathered in sunscreen, blasting Mac Demarco music and hunched over poster paper, crafting vivid chalk murals over the span of two days.
Now in its sixth year, the annual Chalk Festival is an event open to AP Art, Art 3 and Art 2 students. Students can either work alone or in small groups, and they spend two full school days in the quad using chalk pastels to replicate an image of their choice on a large sheet of paper. The art is later auctioned off with all the proceeds directly benefitting Foothill’s art program.
For Taylor Snell ‘17, this was her second year participating in the Chalk Festival. She and her group decided to replicate an image of a mermaid for their piece.
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Although Snell particularly likes “skipping classes and being outside in the sun with my friends,” she also believes the annual event allows students to “explore our more creative sides instead of always trying to be the best” academically, because especially at this point in the year, “all students are kind of stressed out about grades.”
Joshua Hager ‘18 his group decided to recreate the cover of Kanye West’s “Graduation” album. Released in 2007, Hager and his team chose the album because “it is an extraordinarily good piece of music, as well as the cover art being very colorful.”
Hager believes that the public display of student artwork during the span of the two days “is very good for the image of Foothill.”
Nicole Gorostiza’s ‘17 group chose to recreate street art that team member Morgan Gallagher ‘18 came across while recently roaming downtown Denver, Colorado.
In Gorostiza’s opinion, she appreciates using the chalk art to raise money to overcome recent cuts in art programs across the nation.
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One of Foothill’s art teachers, Justin Frazier, expressed his love for the atmosphere of the festival: the actual art classroom is hidden “in the corner of campus,” whereas the festival takes place in the heart of campus, “alive with art and energy, with the sun shining.”
Frazier said the event is perfectly fitting for the arrival of spring, as everything is coming alive. The presence of “everyone smiling and everyone creating,” adds “more life” to the campus than there usually is.
