Denver Chalk Art Festival

The Denver Chalk Art Festival is an award-winning event that transforms the historical museum district into a colorful street museum. Over three days, over 200 professional, amateur, and student artists create chalk drawings on the pavement, with 175,000 festival attendees enjoying food and live music as they watch the artwork come to life. The event is produced by Denver Chalk Art and CherryArts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting arts awareness and education in metro Denver.

The festival takes place Labor Day Weekend, September 3-5, 2022. Saturday and Sunday are artist work days, and Monday is for touch-ups and viewing, with an awards ceremony at 11 am. The festival offers two levels: Master level for artists age 18 and up, and Youth Challenge for high school aged students. Squares are 8'x8', with a limited number of 8'x12' vertical spaces reserved for 3-D challenges. Mural teams of 2-3 artists can apply to create 8'x12' horizontal images.

Application requirements include submitting one image of the proposed chalk drawing and three images of past artwork in any medium. Artists must produce the submitted artwork or obtain written approval to change their image. Artwork must be appropriate for public viewing with no words, symbols, or logos intended as advertising. Only non-oil-based soft chalk and pastels in solid form are permitted. Artists reproducing another living artist's work must obtain written permission. The festival provides one set of 24 soft pastels, water, and breakfast and lunch throughout the weekend. All artists are invited to attend a VIP party. Artists are not paid and there is no reimbursement for travel or lodging. Jury results will be announced by July 1, 2022. The deadline to enter is June 19, 2022.