Artists of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in the 2023 Chalk Festival at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) on Saturday, September 16, and Sunday, September 17, noon to 5:00 p.m., rain or shine.  This annual event, started in 1990, features sidewalk artistry by professional chalk artists and local community groups, families, and individuals, making the CMA’s south plaza and walkways through the Fine Arts Garden and Wade Lagoon come alive with color. 

The Chalk Festival is a modern expression of a Renaissance tradition from 16th-century Italy in which artists copied paintings of the Madonna by Raphael and his contemporaries using chalk on the plazas outside cathedrals.  This year’s Chalk Festival features artists Sequioa Bostick, Bruno Casiano, Debra Sue Solecki, and students from Cleveland Institute of Art. 

Everyone can participate in the Chalk Festival!  To chalk your own creation, visit the registration tent in the Fine Arts Garden to purchase your pavement square.  Chalk pastels suitable for the museum’s pavement are included in the purchase. 

• $10 small square (includes a 12-count box of chalk pastels) 
• $20 large square (includes a 24-count box of chalk pastels)