Artists ‘chalk the walks’ Saturday for scholarships for Roane State students

Posted at 12:46 pm October 2, 2015
By Carolyn Krause Leave a Comment

A sidewalk chalk painting from the 2014 Street Painting Festival. (Submitted photo)

The 16th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival is drawing near—it will be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, October 3 (rain day on Sunday), at the Oak Ridge Campus, Roane State Community College.

Dozens of artists will be brushing up on their skills as they bring colorful faces and scenes to concrete sidewalk squares using free art supplies. Would-be Rembrandts will “paint” with chalk the squares that sponsors “purchase” by writing checks.

You, too, can write a check to the Roane State Foundation to fund scholarships for RSCC students. These students have been out of high school for a few years and are not eligible for Tennessee Promise scholarships.

The public is invited to this free festival organized by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge in conjunction with Roane State.

During the festival, young children will enjoy face painting and other free activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Music will be provided.

Although the activities are free, don’t forget to bring your wallet. Food and drinks will be available for sale.

Artists must complete their work by 4 p.m. Saturday when judging begins. The winners in different categories will be announced at 5 p.m. First-place winners and the People’s Choice winner will each 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, please visit the www.roanestate.edu/streetpaintingfestival website. Sponsors are still needed to support the festival, which has raised more than $250,000 in the past 15 years for scholarships for Roane State students.

Corporate sponsors to date include Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc.; Y-12 Federal Credit Union; CNC Y-12; and ORNL Federal Credit Union.

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

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