Chalk artists transform Marietta Square during Chalktoberfest
Festivalgoers crowded Marietta Square on Saturday as chalk artists from across the globe turned streets into colorful pieces of art at the annual Chalktoberfest.
The festival, in its 13th year, draws artists from Georgia, across the country and beyond. Street painters Saturday worked on more than 80 chalk drawings, spending hours turning their asphalt canvases into works of art.
Among the artists was Tara Aiken, who traveled from Minnesota to participate in the annual event.
Aiken started street painting during the COVID-19 pandemic when trying to find ways to get her children outside, she said. But she said her hobby turned into a side hustle and eventually her full-time job last year.
She worked on an art piece of Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. Aiken’s piece, she said, was based on a photo of the Braves player in his uniform, blowing bubble gum.
“I kind of took a take on that photo with a twist of pop art style,” the 41-year-old artist said. “I blended art and sports, my two loves.”
Aiken said she enlarged the bubble and plans to add a colorful background behind Acuña.
“He blows like these amazing bubbles while he’s running the bases after hitting a home run,” she said.
Aiken has created chalk art of Minnesota Twins players and has even been commissioned by Twins players to create custom artwork on their cleats.
“We’re a big baseball family, so I even started chalking Twins players before I ever started doing sneaker art. So I’ve always loved doing chalk art of Twins players,” she said.
Some street painters kept their clothes clean as they chipped away at their artwork. But Chris Brake of Atlanta already had a layer of chalk covering his clothes by Saturday afternoon. He said he’s often one of the dirtiest artists by the end of the festival.
This year, the 48-year-old artist’s 10-foot-by-10-foot creation is based on an AI-generated face. He said he likes to use a lot of color in his street paintings.
The chalk artists traveled from across the U.S. and foreign countries, including Germany, Italy, Mexico and the Netherlands.
But not all the artists at the festival were using chalk. Lee Mobley, a 52-year-old educator from Douglas, was creating a mural of a bull out of exterior latex paint.
He said he was ahead of schedule on Saturday before lunch, which meant he could sneak in a lunch break. But depending on how complete his mural is by Sunday, he said he might skip lunch.
“I’m ahead. I think I’ll eat today, but we’ll see about tomorrow,” Mobley said. “You’ll find out artists — they’ll decide if they’re going to eat depending on where they’re at in the process.”
Sally Macaulay, executive director of the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, who helped organize the event, said she got the idea to create the festival from the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Florida, more than a decade ago.
“I just said I can bring this to Marietta, and it’s just grown and grown and grown,” she said.
Festivalgoers walked around the square watching the artists slowly fill in their concrete plots with chalk.
The event also featured food trucks, art and craft vendors and musical guests in Glover Park. Additionally, people could pay for tickets to a craft beer festival at Marietta Square.
By Saturday afternoon, creations were at various points of progress. The artists have until Sunday afternoon to complete their artworks.
About the Author
Caleb Groves is a general assignment reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's politics team and a Kennesaw State University graduate.
