Street Painting Festival: Come watch artists chalk the walks

The 14th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival is drawing near—it will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (rain day on Sunday) at the Oak Ridge Campus of Roane State Community College.

Dozens of artists will be brushing up on their skills as they transform concrete sidewalk squares into colorful chalk paintings. The public is invited to this free festival organized by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge to provide scholarships for Roane State students.

While would-be Rembrandts are chalking the walks, young children will enjoy free activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Kid Zone.

Artists must complete their work by 4 p.m. Saturday. Local artist and teacher Jim Dodson will judge the art, and the winners in different categories and People’s Choice winner will be announced at 6 p.m. First place winners will receive $50.

It’s not too late to be an artist or sponsor for this event. For more information, including artist and sponsor registration forms to print out, and a slide show of past winning chalk paintings, visit the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge’s website.

If you have questions, call Melinda Hillman at (865) 481-2001, ext. 2301, or e-mail her at [email protected].

Sponsors are still needed to support the festival, which has raised more than $240,000 in the past 13 years for scholarships for Roane State students. So far, corporate and small business sponsors for this year’s festival include Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc., Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Y-12 Federal Credit Union, Pilot Flying J, ORNL Federal Credit Union, Navarro Research and Engineering, Akins Public Strategies, Edward Jones Investments, and Oak Ridge Institute for Continuous Education.