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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT MARCH 24, 2022
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CHALK TODAY, GONE TOMORROW
Photo courtesy of Chalk Festival
Artistic expression knows no boundaries or borders, but for three days, the Venice International Airport will be the world capital of chalk street art.
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celebrated group of worldclass artists will be in Venice for three days, creating images that challenge your imagination in scale and scope. Then they’ll be gone. The latest edition of the Chalk Festival, at the Venice International Airport from April 1 through April 3, will let guests stand back and survey the grounds as artists create work that can be the size of a football field.
Or even bigger. Denise Kowal, founder of the Chalk Festival, has presided over an event that has grown exponentially. It has set world records and reached an international audience of artists. Now, says Kowal, it has to come back from a COVID-related setback. “It’s beyond what you can imagine,” she says of picking up the chalk again after a two-year absence. “It’s hard to describe what this event has become, but over the years it’s grown into the largest international pavement art event in the world.
“It’s kind of like a global family. This is really the festival where everybody gets to come together and see each other. It’s not just not getting to do the festival; all of these artists haven’t had contact with their incredibly good friends around the world. “It’s emotional for some people that are coming.” Kowal, who held the first Chalk Festival as a local event in 2007, SEE CHALK, PAGE 2
More than 20 street artists chipped in for this 2012 work entitled “The Circus Parade.”