CHALK IT UP TO SACRAMENTO ITS THE CHALK OF THE TOWN
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Mission Statement
Chalk It Up To Sacramento aims to empower the next generation of artists by providing grant funding and programs for teachers and schools to give equitable access to the arts for all students, with an emphasis on serving our region’s most vulnerable populations. The annual three-day Chalk It Up! Chalk Art & Music Festival, a vibrant celebration of our local arts community and artists of all ages, is offered free to the public over Labor Day weekend, serving as a gift to the city and the greater Sacramento region.
About This Cause
“Chalk It Up to Sacramento It’s the Chalk of the Town,” better known as Chalk It Up, was first established in 1991 through the hard work of local artists and community art supporters who wanted to bring the transient beauty of Madonnari, the Italian tradition of street painting, to Sacramento. They held the first Chalk It Up Festival at what is now known as Cesar Chavez Park. In 1993, Chalk it Up received its non-profit status and moved the festival to its current home at Fremont Park in Midtown, Sacramento. As a non-profit arts organization, we are best known for the Chalk It Up! Chalk Art & Music Festival, a three-day celebration of local artists and the arts community. This festival, one of the last of the free, family-friendly festivals in Midtown Sacramento, has seen a remarkable increase in visitors over the last three years. With hundreds of artists creating sidewalk chalk murals, dozens of local artisans and makers, local food and treat vendors, a beer garden, and a diverse line-up of live local musicians and DJs, the festival is a true reflection of the diverse and inclusive Sacramento art scene. It’s the way that approximately 40k people, from all walks of life, choose to celebrate their Labor Day Weekend. In addition to the festival, we provide mini-grants through the Chalk It Up Grant Program, providing much-needed gap-filling funding to help schools, teachers, and youth programs fund their arts education programs. Every spring, we host the High School Self-Portrait Show, a juried gallery show to showcase our region’s talented high school artists. The 2nd Saturday Opening Reception awards are presented to the young artists and their teachers. They include cash prizes for the student artists in categories such as “Best in Show” and “Best in Medium” and corresponding grants for their teachers to purchase classroom supplies. Chalk It Up is a testament to the power of community. We have no full-time staff, but our operations are overseen by our Executive Board and Executive Director. The success of the Chalk It Up Festival, the grants, and the student art show is made possible by the generous support of our volunteers, donors, community partners, and sponsors. Their contributions, both in labor and funding, are not just appreciated, but they are the backbone of our organization, integral to our mission and the reason we can continue to empower and support the next generation of Sacramento artists. CHALK IT UP! CHALK ART & MUSIC FESTIVAL: The Chalk It Up! Chalk Art & Music Festival is a three-day celebration of local artists and the arts community — one of the last of the free, family-friendly festivals in Midtown Sacramento. Since 1991, we have hosted a safe and clean festival at Fremont Park at 16th & Q Streets in Midtown Sacramento where the community can listen to live local musicians, patronize local craft, maker, and food vendors in the marketplace, and watch local artists turn the sidewalks around Fremont Park into colorful works of art. This is part performance art, as the artists are creating the work during the festival. Community members come from throughout the greater Sacramento Valley region several times over the 3-day weekend to watch the art work come to life. Kids of all ages are inspired after a walk around the outside of the park to admire the work of these professional artists, so we supply buckets of sidewalk chalk for folks to use to experiment on the interior walkways of the park. The Chalk It Up Festival is a Sacramento tradition, a gift to the community, and with the help and and partnership of our generous sponsors and donors we’ve kept it 100 percent free to the public for over three decades! ARTS EDUCATION GRANTS FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS: Our Chalk It Up Grant Program offers grants to schools and organizations in need of funding for youth arts education programs. We fund mostly Title 1 schools on a biannual grant application cycle so that funding is coordinated with the Spring and Fall school semesters. Art departments in schools are typically underfunded. Chalk It Up Grants are often used to purchase much needed art supplies and while also allowing teachers and students to explore new mediums. HIGH SCHOOL SELF-PORTRAIT SHOW: While athletes have games, actors put on shows, and musicians have concerts, we’ve discovered that visual artists need more opportunities to showcase their work in a professional gallery setting. The High School Self-Portrait Show is a unique platform that allows high school artists to proudly display their art to their peers and the community and compete for prizes. High School Art Teachers from the greater Sacramento region assign their students a Self-Portrait project in any medium and then recommend two or three students from their class to submit for the show. The show, a community event, is displayed in a gallery for all to appreciate, and a panel of local artists, art educators, and the Chalk It Up executive board selects the award winners. Self-portraits are essential for the development of high school artists because they offer a unique opportunity for self-reflection and the exploration of artistic expression. Chalk It Up hosts a 2nd Saturday Reception and Awards Ceremony, a joyous occasion for students, teachers, families, and the community to celebrate the next generation of artists and the arts education community. Chalk It Up provides awards for Best in Show, Best in Medium, etc., inspiring hope for the future of the arts. This show is possible because of the partnership of our local high school art teachers and the arts education community. They are helping to empower and support the next generation of artists.