Art in the Street Celebrates 25 Years of Pasadena Chalk Art with Colorful Retrospective

Over 500,000 sticks of pastel chalk, countless hours of drawing and over 25 years of chalk art coalesced into Art in the Street: 25 Years of the Pasadena Chalk Festival, a retrospective exhibit at The Pasadena Museum of History. The group show includes custom made chalk art, video installations and photography.

“It was an awesome challenge to incorporate over 25 years of art into one exhibition,” said Tom Coston, co-founder of the Pasadena Chalk Festival and guest curator at the Pasadena Museum of History.

The Pasadena Chalk Festival first took place in 1993 outside of Pasadena City Hall and has grown to one of the largest chalk art festivals in the world. The festival includes over 600 visual artists a year and attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Paseo Colorado shopping center over the two-day festival weekend.

Tom Coston and Patricia Hurley of Light Bringer Project are the founders and organizers of the Pasadena Chalk Festival and the guest curators of Art in the Street: 25 Years of the Pasadena Chalk Festival.

“We have two purposes with the Chalk Festival – to introduce this centuries old art form to Pasadena and to create a community of artists,” said Tom Coston.

The exhibit explains how pavement art and street painting, can also be viewed as a type of performance art because artists use impermanent materials to make their fleeting murals. The exhibit also features an interactive chalkboard wall where visitors can leave their mark.

Art in the Street: 25 Years of the Pasadena Chalk Festival is on view through Sunday, August 13 in the Museum’s History Center galleries, 470 W. Walnut St., Pasadena 91103. Admission is $7 General; $6 Students & Seniors; Free for Museum Members and Children under 12. Visit www.pasadenahistory.org for more information.