A review of outdoor lighting and "live performance" noise regulations and the nomination of the Trujillo Adobe for the National Register of Historic Places are all on this week's agendas.
Greetings, you nostalgic news gatherer! Last week, we tried to get our stories published with a little imagination. Did you find a scan of all the news that’s fit to print could turn a day of bad news into a moment of hilarious haiku? Maybe it was time to share the good news about yourself with a hot-off-the-presses puff piece about your latest thrift store discovery. Even if all you did was transform yesterday’s headlines into a three-dimensional sculpture suitable for the birds, I hope you found a new way to connect with the stories – both printed and personal – that surround us.
This week, I’m reaching into the toolbox I’ve used for decades as a teacher for this week’s creative nudge: a piece of chalk. Sure, modern classrooms feature “smartboards” or dry erase markers, but like the newspaper, it’s competing with a lot of advanced technology, and still finding ways to be relevant.
At home, we use a small kitchen chalkboard that keeps track of who is cooking, alongside a running list of supplies needed from the store. It’s a tactile and visual way to keep in touch households connected without starting another group chat to get annoyed with!
Think back to childhood chalk fun - imaginary worlds bloomed in vibrant hues, hopscotch grids promised adventure, and declarations of youthful affection adorned the walkways. What was more liberating than a piece of chalk and a stretch of sidewalk? I might be an outlier, but I still enjoy an hour of sweaty joy hunched over scratchy concrete under a clear sunny sky. With a little effort, a grey mundane urbanscape becomes a color-coded collage for the world.
What do I love most about chalk? It’s impermanence; a mistake can be washed off with water and a new expression just a stroke away. The concept of “chalk art” has grown in popularity and acceptance as “real art.” I recently used chalk for an interactive art project; visitors enjoyed giving new names to sculptures on the chalkboards I provided. Sometimes they provided written feedback or other visual messages directly onto my art.
Its ability to create both bold lines and capture subtle shifts in light makes it a versatile medium. Beyond traditional art, chalk invites interaction with our environment, turning sidewalks, walls (with permission, of course!), and even foundobjects into temporary works of art.
So, grab a piece of chalk – any color, any size. Let's tap into that childlike freedom and explore the creative serendipity that awaits us by taking several minutes of creative contemplation with one or more of these creative exercises:
Sidewalk Storyboard: Find a patch of sidewalk or driveway and use chalk to create a storyboard for a short story or a scene from your life. Use simple drawings and words to map out the sequence of events. Surprise a neighbor with a heartfelt message to start their day.
Chalk Mandala: Create a temporary mandala on the ground using different colors of chalk. Focus on symmetry and repetition, allowing the process to be meditative and visually engaging.
Blackboard Brainstorm: If you have access to a chalkboard or even a dark piece of construction paper, use chalk to brainstorm ideas for a project, a story, or a personal goal. Let the freeform nature of chalk writing encourage a flow of ideas.
Object Outline: Place a variety of everyday objects on a surface and use chalk to trace their outlines. Then, fill in the outlines with imaginative details, transforming the familiar into something fantastical.
Interactive Chalk Art: Create a piece of chalk art that invites interaction. Draw a maze for others to follow, a hopscotch game, or even an outline of a person for people to pose within.
Let's embrace the temporary nature of chalk and the freedom it offers. This week is about making marks, expressing ideas, and enjoying the tactile pleasure of creation without the pressure of permanence. Take a few minutes to mark your moment, to leave your colorful trace on the world, even if it washes away with the next April shower. It's a reminder that creativity, like a chalk drawing, can be vibrant, immediate, and wonderful in the present.
This column was written with the help of Google’s Gemini Advanced, a powerful generative AI writing tool.
