A chalk walk: Contest means sidewalks, paved spots in JoCo get a bit more colorful

Overland Park is getting a little more colorful — courtesy of an art supply beloved by children and creative adults.

The Chalk the Walk program has encouraged residents of all ages to create their masterpieces on sidewalks, driveways and even paved park surfaces.

Those who participate can submit a photo of their creation at opkansas.org/events/chalk-the-walk to enter the associated contest. But if you haven’t done it already, hurry. Submissions close Aug. 28.

Online voting runs Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. This year’s theme is Looking Up, and how that translates into chalk is entirely in the eye of the artist.

“We kind of thought about, what’s something that’s meaningful (and) also easy to draw. It’s simple. If you are a child or a parent of a child who says, ‘I don’t know what to draw,’ you can say, ‘Look up. What do you see?’” said Alissa Workman, neighborhood programs coordinator for the city of Overland Park.

“But then sometimes it might have a deeper meaning of things are looking up or what they’re seeing in their neighborhood in the future or someone they look up to.”

The only limitations are that they don’t want anything hateful or offensive that “might cause someone to feel unwelcome,” she said.

Categories for the contest include best use of theme, best use of sidewalk blemish, kids ages 8 and younger, and kids 9 to 14. Each drawing can only go in one category, but you can make as many different drawings as you want.

Judges will decide the winners of the four categories, but the online votes will determine who earns the people’s choice award. If you win a category, you can get up to six passes to Overland Park attractions such as the Matt Ross or Tomahawk Ridge community centers, the Museum at Prairie Fire, the Johnson County Museum, the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead or the Overland Park Arboretum. The people’s choice winner gets a double set of passes.

The city is providing people with chalk, but you can also use your own. Workman said participants can even use a layer of tempura paint under their drawings to even out the surface. The rules note you must have permission to draw in the space you’re using.

In the interest of safety, Workman said, no one should be drawing in the street.

Several neighborhoods around town have organized small events to encourage people to participate. Barb Engel, secretary of the homes association in the Highcroft neighborhood at 116th Street and Quivira Road, said her neighborhood is on its third year of hosting Chalk the Walk events, which have been around since 2017.

Engel’s group had planned a chalk event in a cul-de-sac and even hired a food truck. However, the weather had other plans, and the chalk part got rained out this year. Still, she’s enthusiastic about the programs they’ve done so far.

“It’s low labor, low cost, high fun,” Engel said.

For her, the underlying message of the program is what really sells it.

“(It’s) just the whole overall philosophy of writing kind messages and happiness and inspiration. Who doesn’t love chalk?” Engel said.

They have been able to participate throughout the pandemic because it’s an outdoor activity that’s easily distanced.

On a morning in late August, the sun was out, and numerous families got in on the chalk action at Cherokee Park.

Chris Moll came out with his wife, Ashley, and their 2-year-old daughter, bringing chalk bundles from the city so that anyone could try their hand at making a design.

He drew a picture of Curious George hanging onto a bunch of balloons. Ashley, an art teacher at Blue Valley High School, did one of a squirrel in the woods.

“We just want to make sure there’s something out here for people to see. I hope that by doing this, more kids will show up, and maybe they’ll fix my Curious George,” Chris Moll said.

Lincoln Baryal, 7, was inspired by Moll’s drawing and drew his own balloons that were carrying a turtle through the sky.

“My son is a budding artist, so this is right up his alley,” said Kelley Casteneda, his mother.

She and other parents who stopped by hadn’t known about the contest before coming to the park but encouraged their kids to pick up some chalk and give it a try.

This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A chalk walk: Contest means sidewalks, paved spots in JoCo get a bit more colorful."