Chalk it up

Today's event might as well have been designed specifically to attract the photographer's eye. Who could resist all that color!

Sponsors, from the City to the Mountain Artists' Guild and the Prescott Area Arts & Humanities Council (plus a good assortment of local businesses), borrowed the Compass Bank parking lot for a weekend of free chalk art. We lucked out -- there was neither wind nor chill; it was a beautiful spring day for kids, genuine artists, and, in fact, anybody to create a temporary work of art on the asphalt. All for free, including the chalk.

The Mural Mouse was there, with a Hickory Dickery Dock illustration. I also liked the Big Cat emerging below.

One chalker (above) came equipped with a classic crib sheet. Wonder if the artist (below) ever returned to finish off the pizza or was it left for the ravens?

Curious if any of our local graffiti artists showed up.

Now for my own tale of woe; namely, I walked down to the event, taking the usual oodles of pix, and ran out of juice just as I arrived at the bank. No problem; I put in replacement batteries. Ooops -- they weren't charged, despite being in a baggie labeled "charged". So I had to detour over to Walgreen's for a supply of electricity. All of which meant that I missed the Troupe Salamant performance...

...and wasn't able to photograph this character at the fair, but only as he was headed for Starbucks or his car. One disappointment: the moment I spotted his outfit, my reaction was, "hey, that's the Shaggy Man, straight from the Land of Oz." But he merely saw himself as a tree.

Here's the best I could do to show the belly dancers. One circling the show to see the art, another (below) with her dog heading for her car in the Depot Place parking lot.

The event continues tomorrow (Sunday). A piece of me suspects this innocent introduction to creating public art is a mixed blessing for young kids. They're getting a taste of what fun it can be; the next time they may not wait for a sanctioned event but instead move on to graffiti. (I further wonder if any of the local graffiti artists might show up overnight to leave their mark at the site; I would if I were they! Attention, Tombo: you should check this out!)

Final Notice: If you're reading this on Sunday, don't forget that the blogger get together is today over at Flinn Park at 1 p.m.