(Chelsea Update would like to thank Bridget Favre of D and B Strategic Marketing for the information in this story.)
Five years ago, Shelley and Dave Brenner discovered chalk painting through a local chalk art competition in their hometown of Chelsea.
Since that time, they have participated in a variety of chalk events throughout the world and have enjoyed sharing their love of chalk art as featured artists.
This year, they return to the Chelsea Chalk Art Contest, not as competitors, but rather to showcase a large 4D glow-in-the-dark chalk illusion.
“We were at Chelsea’s Sounds and Sights Festival in 2014 and decided to check out the Chalk Art Contest. The street was covered with bold paintings and Shelley and I could not help but pick up some chalk and start drawing. Since then we have been hooked,” said Dave Brenner.
The couple has since participated in over 20 street painting festivals including the International Chalk Fest in Venice, Florida, the Street Painting Festival in Lake Worth, Florida, the Arbor Lakes Chalkfest in Minnesota, and the Chalktoberfest in Georgia. They were recently featured as international artists at the 2018 Dubai Canvas.
Thanks to a combination sponsors and grants, the Sounds and Sights Festival’s annual Chalk Art Contest has grown into a two-day event featuring 15 world-renowned “Street Artists” in addition to the annual contest, which awards over $1,300 in prizes.
“When we applied for the MCACA grant, we were hoping to showcase five professional artists at the festival,” said Denise Cugliari, CAFE event coordinator.
“Thanks to Dave and Shelley’s artist network, and excitement from the community, we were able to triple that number and offer stipends to 15 professional artists,” Cugliari said
CAFE received a mini-grant of $2,320 from the State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) and the Arts Alliance. Additional support of the project includes sponsors Rick Taylor of Reinhart Realtors, City of Chelsea DDA, Chelsea State Bank, “Jiffy” Mixes, Chelsea Chevy Buick, Healthy Smiles Dental Group of Chelsea, Chelsea Comfort Inn, The Common Grill, Destination Ann Arbor, Devil’s Haircut, Eternity Arts, Howard Hanna G.U. Crew, Redline Athletics – Dexter, Riemco Building Company, and Walkie Chalk. The Sounds and Sights Festival benefits from significant volunteer support from the community.
This community event is free for all visitors to view and interact with the artists as they work.
For a complete list of artists, and examples of their work, visit https://chelseafestivals.com/festival/chalk-art/featured-artists/.
On Saturday, July 28 individuals and groups can also be contest participants in the Chalk Art Contest, with prizes up to $325 dollars.
Artist and contest registration information can be found at www.chelseafestivals.com/chalk-art.
