When Erik Greenawalt’s daughter was 4 years old, he began to entertain her by drawing princesses in chalk on their driveway. The driveway art evolved into a hobby that has taken him around the country and even to London and Australia.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Mr. Greenawalt – and his daughter Jaycie, now a 20-year-old junior at Slippery Rock – were among the two dozen artists from nine states taking part in the second annual Pittsburgh Riverwalk and Chalk Fest.
The event took over Isabella Street on the North Shore, with artists depicting Pittsburgh institutions such as Franco Harris, Jeff Goldblum and Andy Warhol’s can of Campbell’s soup – as well as non-Pittsburgh institutions such as Tina Turner and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Artists started drawing Friday and finished Saturday morning. Chalk Fest, run by Riverlife, featured food trucks and music on Saturday and ran in conjunction with Open Streets PGH on Sunday, when key corridors of the North Shore and beyond were shut down for bicyclists,
Kevin Draper, of McCandless, was walking through Sunday with his family, including his three children.
“We came originally for the Open Streets PGH and heard about the Chalk Fest -- it seemed like a neat thing to check out,” he said. “It’s really impressive, really, really impressive – nice to see some art come out in a public area and nice to bring people down for it.”
Joe and Carrie McIntyre were in town from Maryland for the East Coast Championships volleyball tournament at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
“We took a walk yesterday across the bridges and we saw it and we decided to come back today,” said Mr. McIntyre. “It’s just such a walkable city.”
A side plaza off Isabella Street was filled with chalk for visitors to use and draw, and 3-year-old Drew Noack, of Mt. Lebanon, sat happily coloring, still wearing the helmet he used while riding his scooter during Open Streets.
“It’s a wonderful thing that we love that Pittsburgh does,” said his dad, Clint Noack, of Mt Lebanon, of Chalk Fest and Open Streets. “I wish they would close the streets down year round.”
Mr. Greenawalt, of North Huntingdon, described the turnout for this year’s Chalk Fest as “massive,” thanks in part to the beautiful weather.
“I looked up a couple times yesterday and couldn’t believe the number of people coming through,” said Mr. Greenawalt, who drew a 3D rendition of Franco Harris catching the immaculate reception that he estimated took about 12 to 14 hours to complete.
Mr. Greenawalt, known in the chalk world at The Chalking Dad, worked as a page designer at the Post-Gazette in the early 2000s.
While some chalk festivals in the U.S. have been around for decades, more have popped up around the country in the last 10 to 15 years he said, with smart phone pictures of 3D art driving some of the popularity.
He helped organize Chalk Fest last year, when the festival debuted at South Side Works before moving to the North Shore this year.
“We hope to make it an institution in Pittsburgh for many years to come,” he said.
Anya Sostek: asostek@post-gazette.com.
First Published: May 28, 2023, 8:34 p.m.
Updated: May 29, 2023, 1:47 p.m.
