(WEST BEND, WISCONSIN) – Art & Chalk Fest, a free, outdoor arts festival returns to West Bend for its eighth annual two-day event showcasing Wisconsin art and artists. Presented by the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Art & Chalk Fest is one of the state’s largest live-arts festivals and expects to welcome more than 20,000 visitors this year. As part of the weekend events, MOWA will offer free museum admission over the weekend. Art & Chalk Fest takes place Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18.
Situated just forty minutes north of Milwaukee in West Bend, Art & Chalk Fest provides a weekend of art experiences by artists in all mediums. Nearly 20 professional chalk artists will transform the museum’s parking lot into a canvas of chalk masterpieces and artists and artisans will demo their art-making processes and sell their original artwork.
In addition to the festival, the museum will present Weaving a Legacy: Ho-Chunk Black Ash Basketry, a first-ever comprehensive exhibition of Ho-Chunk baskets. Weaving a Legacy is curated by Ho-Chunk artist and University of Wisconsin–Madison Professor of Photography Tom Jones, who has collected Ho-Chunk baskets and pieced together tribal history for more than a decade. This exhibition celebrates Jones’s act of cultural preservation: photographing and documenting more than two thousand baskets from the mid-1800s through to contemporary work.
“MOWA is excited to open our doors to artists, enthusiasts, and the community for a celebration of creativity and culture like no other at the eighth annual Art & Chalk Fest. The festival offers community members and traveling visitors a free summertime activity to engage with live art creation, talented entertainers, and the newest exhibitions on view,” said Brianna Fisher, Director of Development for the museum. “This year features the most chalk artists to date and other festival favorites like Half Twisted Half Knot balloon art, Soul Spin spin art, and the Bergstrom-Mahler’s mobile glass-blowing hot shop.”
Art & Chalk Fest offers a beer garden, live music, live art demonstrations, over 50 art exhibitors, and an expanded Activity Zone. The festival takes place on Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18, from 10:00—5:00, and is free for everyone. Find full event details at https://wisconsinart.org/art-chalk-fest/
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Artist Peter Davidson chalks his creation at Art & Chalk Fest 2021.
Photo courtesy of Andrea Waala.