Alhambra High School Chalk Art Festival Draws in Aspiring Artists

REBECCA ZENG
News Editor
ELVIN CHAU
Staff Writer

A myriad of colors decorated the Quad starting Thursday, March 3, as student artists worked diligently, sweeping chalk over the gravelly ground. The chalk art festival, held before Open House every year, is an opportunity for students to collaborate on chalk projects that depict images based on a theme. This year, the theme for the showcase was “culture.” In response, students produced various chalk art images, including depictions of American, Japanese, Russian, Chinese and Indian culture.

“Art helps you think and [helps you] use your knowledge to teach you critical thinking skills,” parent Jennie Mai said.

The event was a collaborative work that consisted of 24 students working together in 12 groups to draw their art piece.

“[I enjoyed the fact that] we get to show everyone what we can do, [and that art] is not just a class,” senior Jacqueline Gil said.

Each group was given their own chalk to use, but groups asked each other for additional colors when they ran out.
“A lot of us ran out of colors so it’d be better if we had more chalk next year,” junior Michi Takagi said.

Overall, despite some factors that can be improved in next year’s chalk art festival, this year’s festival appeared to draw the attention of parents, students and faculty.

“It is my goal to instill art, in any form, into our campus culture. By hosting this event, students are given the opportunity to showcase the art skills they learn in the classroom to the whole campus on a larger scale,” Ceramics instructor Jayson Pineda said.