Denver Chalk Art Festival 2018

The Denver Chalk Art Festival is an award-winning event that transforms historical Larimer Square 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 pieces come to life. The event is produced by the Lower Downtown Denver Arts Association (dba Larimer Arts Association), a nonprofit organization established in 1996 dedicated to promoting arts awareness and education in metro Denver.

The festival runs June 1-3, 2018: Friday 5pm-10pm, Saturday 10am-10pm, and Sunday 10am-7pm, with an awards ceremony at 5pm Sunday. The festival has two levels: Master level (artists 18 and up) and Youth Challenge (high school students). All squares are 8'x8'; limited 8'x12' vertical spaces are reserved for 3-D challenge entries. Mural teams of 3-4 artists can apply to create 8'x17' horizontal images. Artists must be at least 18 years old (except Youth Challenge participants). Deadline to enter is March 15, 2018; jury results will be announced by early April 2018.

Applications require one image of the proposed chalk drawing and three images of past artwork in any medium. Artwork must be appropriate for public viewing with no words, symbols, or logos intended as advertising. Only non-oil-based soft chalk/pastels in solid form are permitted. Artists planning to reproduce another living artist's work must obtain written permission. All artists are required to work on their drawings both Saturday and Sunday. The festival provides one set of 24 soft pastels, water, breakfast, and lunch both days. Artists are not paid and there is no reimbursement for travel or lodging. All artists are invited to a VIP party Saturday night. Contact: Michael Rieger, Art Director, 720-331-6402, [email protected].