Chalk drawings to highlight First Friday
WAYNESBURG – Summer is kicking off early in Waynesburg.
From 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, downtown merchants and the people who love a community block party will throw open their doors and come out to have fun in the street. It’s a First Friday evening of doing chalk drawings on the sidewalks while WANB radio personality Doug Wilson performs at the courthouse.
There will be free caricatures and balloon animals, raffles and hot dogs, icy drinks, sweet treats and more. Businesses will be open with specials and one-day-only deals to be browsed. Live music will be happening on the corners and up and down every street and kids of all ages will be sitting on the sidewalk making art.
“If you want to rock the chalk, please stop by Artbeat Gallery before 3:30 p.m. on Friday to register,” gallery owner Linda Winegar said, holding up some of the big sheets of paper that will be available for contestants to work on tomorrow. “We had three more people sign up today and there are prizes, too. You can work on your design before you get here, but everyone starts at the same time.”
The paper gets taped to the sidewalks and chalking begins at 4 p.m. Passersby will have the fun of watching the many designs emerge and voting for their favorite ones. The contest ends at 7 p.m. and there is a trophy for people’s choice as well as judges choice. Judges will also award ribbons for second and third place and artists may sell or take their artwork home afterward.
Artist Dave Lesako of New Freeport, who chalked a fierce native warrior on the brick wall of Artbeat Gallery last year, will be back to chalk the wall once more. Waynesburg University art professor Andrew Heisey of Mt. Morris is bringing his daughter this year to help him chalk up another fine design.
Syndicated cartoonist Jeff Harris, whose work, “Short Takes,” appears in the Observer-Reporter, took the prize last year for his rendering of the courthouse that now hangs in the Greene County Tourism office. Friday he’ll retire his chalks and will be doing free caricatures.
Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful, creator of the event, is raffling four one-day passes to Alpha Aquatic Center as well as chances on an original watercolor of the Waynesburg streetscape by Leslie Fehling. The streetscape is on display at Artbeat Gallery and raffle tickets for it are also available there.
For more information about the sidewalk art contest, call the gallery at 724-833-9058.