This chalk festival would be perfect in the Grove
Every year we go to Lake Worth, FL for the Street Painting Festival. It's a Saturday and Sunday event; we usually head there on Sunday, because most of the art is complete, or at least near complete. This year, we brought a friend who had never been and as we all do, he fell in love with the place. The Chalk Festival is celebrating 21 years this year. This is the biggest event of its kind.
It's not just the chalk, but the town itself is what a lot of Coconut Grove should strive to be. The center of the small town has every business you could imagine from shoe repair to upscale restaurants, there's a bike shop, a cigar shop, a playhouse and so much more strewn around the main shopping area. This is where the chalk event takes place.
Two main streets, Lake Avenue and Lucerne Avenue, and a few side streets are closed and the artists do their thing. There's a section for invited professionals to draw and there's an area where anyone can join in and take part, there is also a children's area, where the kids do some very nice work.
This past weekend the weather was perfect. We ate, we drank, we listened to live music and we people watched. Of course we enjoyed all the artwork which would be gone in the next day or so. The streets are open again to traffic at 7 pm on Sunday night and within a day or so, this chalk art will be gone. Truly ephemeral.
Lucille Ball and Captain America were two of my favorites. Picture them on Commodore Plaza.
A friend joked about not letting the developers know about Lake Worth, as they would devour the place as they have done here in the Grove. But I don't think Lake Worth would allow that to happen.
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12 Comments:
If it came to Coconut Grove, how much would be the admission to get in?
Here they'd put cages all around it, grease food vendors every 5 feet, admissions plus 30$ parking, no dogs allowed.
Not every weekend needs a festival. Sometimes a quiet weekend of just "locals" enjoying the Grove is best.
Actually I tried to bring it to the Grove over 15 years ago. But the pwoers that be where not interested. you know competition, right of ways etc. etc. Thank the Parking Parking Authroity.. The difference between Coconut Grove and Lake Worth is Grove is part of MIAMi Lake Worth is it's own.
Only Mr. Sarnoff decides what comes to the Grove.
When I lived in Wellington over 20 years ago I went to this event from the very beginning. I thought to myself (an ex grovite now back in South Miami) this is such a great event and should be in the Grove
We could hire some chalk artists to depict the usual suspects from City Hall making millions with RFP's, dressed as Capt. America and such, wasting our tax money on the ongoing stupid projects.. priceless.
A federal court decision "White vs. City of Sparks" No.: 05-15582, states simply that any person who conveys a message that more or less says "Save the Planet, the whales, turtles, the oceans" can push their wares on any sidewalk, park or public property, period. Freedom of expression, 1st Amendment speech rights. Very, very soon you will see this "Help Mother Ocean" throughout the Grove and it is my desire to make Coconut Grove the corporate headquarters of "Help Mother Ocean", where folks can come and see the problem throughout the Keys and what I can do to remove toxins from our food chain. So, these chalk people need no permit, permission or have to seek out the blessing of those in position of power and authority, just do it - - - - with the constitutionally protect speech.
Jobie Steppe
I am all for chalk drawings only with the problem of cleaning up afterwards, someone should come up with an environmentally friendly way of making these chalks, most dyes are toxic. The city of Miami has already done a grand job poisoning our city parks and cutting our trees. So when you draw with chalk make sure the chalk is environmentally friendly otherwise don't let it be washed off with rain into the ocean.
@6:22
Duly noted! You've made rye and ironic remarks concerning your assumptions about the RFP process and politics on several occasions in several comment threads. Time to change tack and come up with something original. Thanks!
Lake Worth is real. The grove became plastic decades ago.
They have this in Raleigh, NC as well.
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