Sidewalk masterpieces: Museum of Art's annual Chalk Festival brings professionals, amateurs together

Bob Perkoski Thursday, September 21, 2023
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Artists of all ages and abilities came to get dusty at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) 34th annual Chalk Festival last Saturday, Sept. 14.

The south plaza and walkways, through the Fine Arts Garden and Wade Lagoon, came alive with color, as participants worked alongside professional chalk artists Sequoia Bostick, Bruno Casiano, and Debra Sue Solecki, as well as students from Cleveland Institute of Art and local community groups. 

The annual event started in 1990 and features sidewalk artistry as 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.

Bob Perkoski attended this yearly favorite event in photos to share with our FreshWater Cleveland readers.
Bob Perkoski
Bob Perkoski

About the Author: Bob Perkoski

Bob is managing photographer with FreshWater as well as a Cleveland freelance photographer. His photographic approach is rooted in the art of storytelling. Whether freezing the energy of an event, encapsulating the magic of a performance, or astutely anticipating the decisive moments, his work displays an innate ability to distill the essence of any scene or subject into a single frame or series of work. In addition, Bob is the official photographer for LAND studio and Holden Forest and Gardens and has worked with various Cleveland organizations. In 2019 he published a book of his photos Rust Belt Burlesque. He's had work published in other books like LGBTQ Cleveland by Ken Schneck, Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology, Rust Belt Chic: The Pittsburgh Anthology and Moon Cleveland by Douglas Trattner. Previously he was co-founder/art director for Balanced Living Magazine. You can view his versatile portfolio of work, which includes news coverage, portraiture, architectural and fine art at Perkoski Photography. Originally from Conneaut, Ohio, Perkoski now lives close to the city in Parma. He has been Fresh Water's managing photographer since the publication's September 2010 inception.

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