For its 14th year, Chalk It Up is poised to take over San Antonio social media with coverage of our friends and neighbors wandering the brightly colored streets and sidewalks. Every fall since 2004, the free community event sends adults and children alike flocking to the downtown area to both witness and participate in vivid displays of local, unique, and instantly produced art. The footprint expands this year, taking over the streets and sidewalks surrounding Travis Park and will include Houston Street and Jefferson Street, turning an entire seven city blocks into a collaborative work of urban art.
In addition to the freestyle area, where anyone and everyone is welcome to show off their artistic chalk talents together, there are designated areas where local student groups and businesses display their teams’ creativity for everyone to enjoy.
It’s also the largest annual fundraising event for Artpace, and part of what enables their residency program to continually host working artists from Texas and beyond. This year, the usual scene changes a bit with the introduction of a Corporate Competition. Previously, sponsorship was an average of $5,000 and exclusive to larger businesses, who participated with their own dedicated large mural space. This new competition will allow more local businesses to participate and join in to showcase their passion for the arts with a corporate presence at the event. For a much smaller sponsorship fee, businesses can compete with a team of up to 10 individuals, creating a 100 square foot mural on the sidewalk or street.
Artpace is expecting at least ten participants in the Corporate Contest this year. At $500 per team, this will provide extra funds raised in the equivalent of an additional large corporate sponsor. The winning Corporate Contest team will receive bragging rights, as well as the publicity that comes along with being announced on all of Artpace’s popular social media outlets. If this venture is successful, it will pave the way for larger participation numbers in the future – and for Artpace, every sponsorship dollar helps.
Funds raised through corporate sponsorship are used to benefit Artpace’s many community arts education programs, which focus on bringing a passion to the arts to kids and families in urban San Antonio areas.“All funds raised through sponsorships will support Artpace’s unique educational programs,” said Allison Reyes, 2017 co-chair of Artpace Chalk It Up. “As San Antonio continues its rapid development into a world-class city, arts and culture need to be at the forefront of that conversation. Artpace and Chalk It Up lay the groundwork for a public engaged in the arts.”
Non-profit row is another new fixture in this year’s event that will allow local non-profit groups to set up and advertise for their organizations. This section will be at Travis Park, in the midst of all of the buzz.
There will be, as usual, a large line up of food trucks, local musicians, and a variety of hands-on arts activities for the whole family.
Chalk It Up will take place on Saturday, October 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Read about the great things that Artpace is doing to expand arts and culture to all ages and demographics throughout our city at the ArtPace.org website.