Street Sights

Chalk it up to a good time

By Amy Kepferle · Wednesday, July 28, 2010

For 363 days of the year, Bellingham’s Cornwall Avenue acts much like normal streets do: People park their cars next to its sidewalks, plonk a quarter or two in its meters, walk a certain number of feet, yards or blocks to their desired destinations and look both ways before crossing to the other side.

For the two days it’s not acting as a byway for vehicles to get to where they’re going, however, certain sectors of the downtown throughway take on a different role—they become what can only be deemed an “art party.”

Specifically, they transform an average tree-lined thoroughfare into the Bellingham Arts Festival, an event spearheaded by Allied Arts that takes the concepts of creativity and fun and transforms them into a two-day soiree dedicated to promoting all that is good about summer in the Northwest.

And this year, with the addition of an extra chunk of real estate in which to make merry—the 1200, 1300 and 1400 blocks of Cornwall Ave. will be the ones blocked off, if you’re wondering—you can expect even more space in which to peruse the sensory pleasures associated with the annual gig.

Katy Borden, Allied Arts’ Artist Service Coordinator, says the reason for this year’s expansion was a simple one: after all the local and regional artists had submitted their work for consideration by a jury, those who were in charge of choosing who’d make the cut were left with about 20 more artists than they’d normally have room for. Serendipitously, because the Bite of Bellingham had decided not to host its event on the same weekend, there was room to grow.

Others changes, Borden says, include food booths serving everything from snow cones to gourmet sandwiches, additional bathrooms and more prizes for those taking part in the Chalk ArtFest portion of the weekend.

In addition to the 60-plus professional artists showing off their creative wares on the aforementioned avenues, those who want to take part in the community-centered event that first hit Bellingham’s sidewalks 18 years ago are welcome to do so (as of press time, there was still space available for both adults and kids).

The rules for the Chalk ArtFest are pretty straightforward. Once you’ve been assigned a square of cement and the chalk’s been parceled out, you’ll have a few hours to bring your street visions to life. Judges will then cruise the submissions—which go far beyond the three blocks parceled off for the festivities—and prizes will be awarded thusly. For an extra $10, a pro photographer will snap your creation for posterity.

At the end of the weekend, when the artists have packed up and cleared the streets for their re-transformation back into places where it’s necessary to follow the rules of the road, the chalk art creations will be left behind—at least until it rains again—to remind those who tread there that, at least for a couple days each year, the streets are simply one big canvas.

“It is a time when all the aspects of our wonderful artistic community come together in one place,” Borden says. Yep, that sounds about right.