BOUNTIFUL—Main Street has been transformed into an artists’ palate of brilliant colors and fanciful characters creating “Magic on the Sidewalk” this year’s Chalk Art Festival. The annual event was started more than 20 years ago by Jane Joy of the Joy Foundation. 

Joy was teaching troubled youth at Farmington Bay at the time and saw that there was sidewalk surrounding it. That sparked an idea that it would be good for them to go out there and draw. 

This year’s festival started Wednesday, June 4 and will run through June 7. Kids and adults were out on the sidewalk under umbrellas and tents to fight the sun but the sun is a welcome sight. For many years the festival was rained on, leaving half finished art or the artists had to cover their work with sheets of plastic. In an effort to avoid that, the event was moved from early May to June.

“This is my first time here,” said Ashlyn Wendel. “Mine is based on the book “Once Upon a Broken Heart.” It’s a fantasy series where a girl is trying to break a curse. My art is made up of certain parts of the book. The Ballad of the Archer and the Fox in stained glass – it just felt right.”

Wendel and her husband Alex live down the street, she said. “We’ve come the last couple of years and I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve never worked with chalk before. I do acrylic and digital. It’s been a hobby since I was a kid.”

Even their dog Poco, a Chiweenie, got into the act lying patiently in the shade by her artwork.

Nicki Boyle creating a dragon’s eye. 

 It’s the third festival for 12-year-old Nicki Boyle who is creating a dragon’s eye. “In my art class I did an eye and I thought it would be cool to make it even bigger. Sometimes it’s not really artsy but here you can do whatever you like.”

“I love art,” said 11-year-old Naomi Taylor who was drawing a colorful beta fish. “That’s my favorite type of fish. I don’t do a lot of chalk things but it’s not that hard. It’s really quite easy. If I had to name it I would call it ‘Sad Guppie.’”

Another artist was blocking out her sidewalk square with tape. “I’m outlining a stained glass butterfly,” she said. “I’m an artist but I’ve never done chalk. I wanted something unique with bright colors, especially in chalk. They (butterflies) are really unifying. They make everybody happy."

Naomi Taylor works on a colorful beta fish.

 It’s been fun to research how to do chalk art, she said. “I hope it makes a difference in my work. It’s also been fun to walk around and see other artists’ work.”