Moncton festival brings vibrant but temporary chalk art to downtown street

The faces of Elvis Presley, Sinéad O'Connor, John Lennon, Slash, and other rock musicians appeared on the asphalt in downtown Moncton, New Brunswick over the weekend.

More than a dozen artists drew elaborate, colourful chalk-based images on the street as part of the city's first International Street Painting Festival.

The theme of the festival was the history of rock and roll, inspired by the Guns N' Roses concert that took place in the city Saturday evening. 

The festival lost most of its first day to rain Saturday, but continued as planned Sunday and Monday.

"I think it adds to our local art scene," said Patrick Richard, executive director of Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville, when asked what the festival brings to Moncton. "It adds to the vibrancy and the coolness factor that could be lacking sometimes."

Some artists used chalk pastels, some chalk pieces, others used diluted chalk paint and a brush, all while members of the public mingled and watched the artists work.

The one thing the images all have in common though, is Tuesday's forecasted rain will likely wash them away.

Jeanie Burns, from West Palm Beach, Florida, worked on a portrait of John Lennon, and said that chalk art is performance art, not unlike a music concert. 

Pieces can be recorded, but it's about the experience, not the permanence. 

"It's the beauty of the moment," she said.

"The beauty is seeing it happen. That's the beauty of the art form is people get to watch it emerge. And so I don't have any qualms about leaving it behind. If I have one that I really like, I take several pictures of it and put it in my book."

Joel Yau, from San Rafael, California, worked on a striking portrait of the late Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. 

He agreed that the ephemeral aspect of this art form, the letting go, is part of it.

"At the end of the day, at the end of any festival, we just let go," he said. "I'm not even feeling melancholy about it. I probably feel more sad that the festival has ended and the friends that you meet are already going away."

Miramichi, N.B. artist Allie Howe said he's been doing chalk painting for a few years now and is starting to get comfortable with it. He also does a lot of large murals, and enjoys creating art in front of the public.

"I love the communities," he said. "When I do big murals, same idea. I'm communicating a lot with the public, and even more so in these festivals. You're talking to people every few minutes, which is great."

The rock and roll theme inspired him to do a portrait of his favourite guitarist, Slash.

Meanwhile, Moncton-based artist Alicia Grayeb wanted to make sure a female rocker was represented, using her experience as a calligraphy artist to bring the lyrics of Blondie's track Call Me to life alongside a guitar.

It's her first time doing such a large scale chalk piece, and participating in a street art festival, but she said it was a great experience.

"It's really cool that you get to interact with the people while you're doing your art, to explain it to them," she said. "It's just been great and just the interaction with everyone and see other artists work."

The street painting festival also featured live music in the afternoons, a kids zone where families could try chalk art for themselves, and a variety of vendors were on hand.