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2008 Chalk It Up! Festivall

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Our History

Our very first festival was held in 1991 at Cesar Chavez park in downtown Sacramento. Chalk-It-Up!-to-Sacramento! was founded by Annie Chow, a downtown merchant with strong ties to the artistic community.

Our first and second festivals were very modest, but our 1993 festival was a grand milestone: it was the first festival run by a new Board of Directors as an official nonprofit organization. It was also the first festival to be held in Fremont Park, where it has been held ever since. The poster and t-shirt art for that festival, featuring a sitting chalk artist, was created by Rudy Cuellar.

In 1994 the festival poster was designed for the first time by Page Design, Inc., and printed by Signature Press. These two firms have been major supporters of Chalk-It-Up! every year since. The poster art that year featured our chalk bucket logo, created by Amelia Opie.

By 1996 Chalk-It-Up! had given out over $10,000 in grants for arts education. We also had our first group art show, "Insiders," on Del Paso Boulevard, featuring artworks by dozens of artists from our earlier festivals.

One of the best festival posters ever was created in 1998 by longtime Chalk-It-Up! artist Gena Blue Joshua. Featuring a stunning golden sun face, it returned to the sitting chalk artist theme.

The year 1999 was another major milestone. That year the City of Sacramento made substantial improvements in Fremont Park, including a new playground and additional sidewalks running diagonally through the park. This allowed the number of chalk artworks to increase to about 230 squares. That same year Chalk-It-Up! went over a cumulative total of $20,000 in arts education grants. Finally, Chalk-It-Up! held its first Festival Preview Party at the Art Foundry Gallery, a chance for artists, sponsors, volunteers, and friends to meet and get prepared for the upcoming festival, including an unveiling of the next year's poster.

For our tenth festival in 2000, poster and t-shirt art (and other marketing materials) were created by longtime chalk artists Gerald and Cate Taylen. As a special thank you to our artists, each participant was rewarded with a 10th Anniversary canvas bag to carry chalk supplies. That year we went over $30,000 in cumulative arts education grants given over the past ten years.

The year 2003 was a sad one for Chalk-It-Up!: one of our original board members, Rick Best, had passed away the previous December. Rick was well known and well loved in Sacramento, and his work and life were commemorated by Chalk-It-Up! in that year's "Insiders" group art show theme, and with a special tree planting ceremony in Fremont Park. Also in Rick Best's memory, Chalk-It-Up! started granting scholarships to individual students to attend the California State Summer School of the Arts. We also started funding prizes for student art shows at some Sacramento area schools and galleries. These new granting mechanisms reflect our interest in broadening our reach in the arts community.

2004 was another important year in the organization of the Chalk-It-Up! Festival. Starting with the passing of Rick Best, the Board of Directors changed considerably, with responsibilities falling to a new generation of volunteers. The poster and t-shirt art returned to the sitting chalk artist theme, created by Sacramento artist Jim Hunt, the poster is a tribute to Gena Blue Joshua's poster design six years earlier, again featuring a golden sun face. This last year Chalk-It-Up! went over the $50,000 mark in total arts education grants given, funding a total of over 160 arts projects and two scholarships in the fourteen years we've been running the chalk festival! Our thanks go out to all our artists, sponsors, volunteers, and friends -- you all help keep arts education alive in Sacramento.

2005 was a history-making year for Chalk-It-Up! Businesses sponsored every square surrounding Fremont Park! Our Beer Garden got a much-needed face lift as did the children's area with the addition of the SkyLab Youth Production Studios and Sac High School of the Arts interactive creativity areas. We also added several new vendors to our arts sales area, as well as new food vendors. We also took great strides toward making our annual Festival more eco-friendly. All Chalk-It-Up! electrical equipment was powered by SMUD and their solar generators. In 2005, Chalk-It-Up! received a generous donation from the Nancy Hill Wright Family, which, in addition to our existing sponsorships, allowed us to award a record number of students for their artistic achievements during California Youth Art Month events, including the High School Self Portrait Show at 20th Street Art, the Crocker Art Museum show, and the the KOVR show.

JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL FESTIVAL
LABOR DAY WEEKEND • AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
• 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM EVERY DAY •
FREMONT PARK • 15th & P STREETS