ASU ChalkIT Festival 2021

Arizona State University ChalkIT Festival 2021

What is this event?

Join ASU ChalkIT at West campus or your driveway! We are celebrating National Women’s History Month with a chalk festival. This event is for anyone with a desire to express themselves through chalk art.

Top details:

March 8-14, 2021
In person at ASU West Campus and virtual, in your driveway!
There is a $5 per person entry fee. The funds support our Destination West events!
Kickoff is Monday March 8 at 10:00am
Final art must be submitted online by 1:00pm on Friday, March 12, 2021
Art is open for community viewing and voting March 12 – March 14 at ASU West or online for 1 year.
Prize winners will be announced on Friday, March 19 by 5:00pm.

Questions? Email asuwestevents@asu.edu

Is there a theme for this event?

Since March is Women’s History month we are partnering with ASU to celebrate HERstory! The overall ChalkIT theme is “Picture of Strength” and artists may draw their interpretation of that within the guidelines. You can find more information on HERstory here.

What are the guidelines?

Guidelines: For both in-person at ASU West campus and Virtual

Murals must be a minimum of 4 x 4 feet in size and a maximum of 8 x 8 feet.
All art must be created during the week of March 8- March 12, 2021. This is a family friendly event so all murals must be appropriate for public viewing. No words or symbols intended as offensive will be permitted. All art must be family friendly.
The ASU ChalkIT committee reserves the right to refuse, stop or eliminate objectionable material. Their decision is final. If an artist has questions about if their art is appropriate, it is suggested that they produce a paper copy for approval prior to the event.
Please sign and date your art when finished.

Guidelines: For in-person at ASU West campus

Check in is on Monday March 8, 2021 between 10:00am and 11:30 am. If you can’t make this time, please reach out to our office to see if alternative arrangements can be made. asuwestevents@asu.edu
ASU will provide 1 chalk pack per individual or team. All other chalk needed is the responsibility of the artists.
Artists are responsible for protecting their chalk art should it rain during the event. Plastic drapes, tape, etc. can be used as needed.
ASU will do our best to protect the art on campus (vandalism, weather) but ultimately we are not responsible for damage to the art.
Only water-based chalk can be used for drawings. NO paint, crayon, ink or other non-washable or permanent products.
Artists are responsible for taking their photos and submitting them online by 1:00pm on Friday, March 14, 2021.

Guidelines: For those doing the competition virtually

You may begin your art on Monday, March 8 and must be done by Friday, March 14, 2021.
Artists are responsible for taking their photos and submitting them online by 1:00pm on Friday, March 14, 2021.
You must provide your own chalk
Only water-based chalk can be used for drawings. NO paint, crayon, ink or other non-washable or permanent products.

Supplies you may need

Whisk broom or brushes for cleaning the drawing surface before you start. Do not blow dust particles.
Umbrellas, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, etc. to guard against the hot sun.
A chalkboard eraser, foam, terry cloth or short-cut brushes for blending larger areas of color.
Refreshments. Keep open beverage containers away from paintings. (NO glass allowed on campus sites)
Plastic (if desired) to cover your artwork.
Water and a cloth or sponge to erase unwanted parts of your design.
Cotton gloves to protect your hands. Latex gloves to protect your ﬁngertips and assist in blending colors.
Old towels or rags to clean up as necessary.
Straight edge, masking tape or “snap” tool for creating sharp borders or geometry.
A 2ʼ x 2ʼ piece of heavy fabric, carpet square or cardboard to sit or stand on to avoid smearing your work.
A pillow, gardeners’ pad, knee pads or yoga mat to kneel on.
Camera to take photos of your creation!

Tips for those just beginning

If you want your proportions to be correct, you might consider drawing a grid over the photocopies using a ruler and thin marker. You can lay out a corresponding grid on the asphalt. An example is half-inch squares on the picture to 6-inch squares on the asphalt. Mount color photocopies of your design on cardboard to make them easier to work with. A carpenter’s chalk line is ideal for this. Make several copies if more than one artist will be working on the piece.
Use chalk sparingly. Build up your layers, starting with a very light layer on the bottom. Some artists prefer to lay all of their base layer ﬁrst. Some prefer to work top to bottom. If reproducing an image originally created by another artist (living or deceased), it is important to credit the original artist and the title at the base of your drawing.
We recommend outlining all of your major elements ﬁrst.
Fill in the details of the image using various shades of colored chalk. Continue to blend colors to gain the right effect. Leave some chalk color unblended on the surface of the concrete to bring out colors, highlights and details.
A big chalkboard eraser works great for laying down large areas of color. Moving the eraser in a circular motion works best.
Do not blow or fan excess chalk into the air. It will dull your colors, and chalk dust is not good to breathe.
To get intense color, apply the chalk more than once (the ﬁrst time ﬁlls in cracks and crevices) and bear down hard. The second time is to let the chalk powder rest on the top of the bumps. Then donʼt touch it anymore!
First-timers should consider using one object as the focal point of your artwork – a face, a frog, etc. Small details are difficult to manage on a rough surface — so think BIG & DRAMATIC.

How to take great photos of your work

Get up high to take your photo, looking down
Think about where the sun is and when you take the picture to avoid shadows.
Do not use a flash
Consider how to show the scale in the final photo.

Submit your final photos

Deadline to submit is Friday, March 14, 2021 at 1:00pm (MST).
A link will be sent to all registered parties.

What images we need:

One or two finished photos of your work
One photo of the individual or team who worked on the art
Three in-progress photos
You may also share any video links of the process if you’d like, which may or may not be used.
Do we compete as an Individual or in teams?

Team or Individual?
Teams may have up to 4 people or 5 if they are registered as a family.
If you choose to enter as a team, you will be asked to list information on all those participating.

What are the age categories?

When you submit your final photos, you can change the age category if necessary. By choosing “Single Child” category you are stating that no adults helped. The age group for “Group of Children” category is based on the oldest member of the group.

Categories:

Single Adult 18+
Group Adult 18+ (up to 4 people)
Single Child 7 and under
Single Child 8-13
Single Child 14-17
Group of children 7 and under (up to 4 people)
Group of children 8-13 (up to 4 people)
Group of children 14-17 (up to 4 people)
Family (up to 5 people in immediate family)

Judging categories will be selected based on number of entries. Not every category may be used every year. The judges may choose from the following:

Best in festival 1st, 2nd, 3rd place
The People’s choice
Best 3D Effect
Most Humorous
Most inspirational
Best use of color
Best animation mural
Best rendition of a masterpiece
Best technique
Best created by ASU Alumni
Best HERstory
Best depiction of theme

Questions? Email asuwestevents@asu.edu

To register, click the button at the top right of this form.