On Saturday the grey streets and sidewalk of Houston St. will be replaced with art murals made with chalk. For nearly a decade, Artpace’s Chalk It Up festival has gathered artists to express their talent on a canvas that people normally literally walk all over.
Artpace Deputy Director Mary Heathcott said that holding a show like Chalk It Up allows for a much larger audience.
“Art is important, and free access to art is something that Artpace really believes in," Heathcott said. "We can’t fit 18,000 people in our 16,000 sq. ft. facility so this is the venue that we can welcome that many people and give them exposure to contemporary artists that are working in our community."
About 20 visual artists will be chalking the road this year with teams from 45 different schools. This is artist Marcus Garza's first time participating, and he said his piece will include maps of the city.
“It’ll be exactly a map of downtown, also a map of the actual city and the county and the suburbs and how they’re exploding,” Garza said.
Chalk-it up will include hands-on activities and goes from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. on Saturday along Houston St. between Main and Jefferson.
