RESTON, Va. (WDVM) — This time of year, Public Art Reston should be gearing up for its annual Chalk Art Festival. Although you can’t view the artists’ work in person, Public Art Reston is sharing Reston’s chalk art via Facebook and its website. 

Friday wrapped up the first week of Public Art Reston’s Stay-At-Home Chalk Art, in partnership with the Reston Community Center, the Reston Association, the Reston Town Center Association, the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, and the Reston Historic Trust & Museum. The board has selected a different theme for each week of the month of May. This week’s theme was “fantasy.”  

“As a founding member of Public Art Reston, the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce is so excited to help promote such an important event that really brings the community together in a positive way, and in a format that promotes social distancing,” said President and CEO Charles Kapur. “The Reston Chamber’s goal is to create a vibrant and thriving community for all that live and work in Reston and this event certainly does that.”

Executive Director of the Reston Town Center Association Robert Goudie says the beauty of the  project is that it reaches across all age groups. “We’ve got our youngest inspiring artists involved with this and we’ve got professional adult artists and everyone in between, and I think that’s really a neat part of the power and the key to make this thing work,” Goudie said.

Reston Community Center Board Member Bill Bouie came up with the idea for a chalk art festival when he visited the Savannah College of Arts and Design with his daughter. He says college applicants are required to participate in its chalk festival. 

Putting the chalk festival online makes it available to people who otherwise might not have been able to go. “We’re especially having to engage kids in the neighborhood that you typically never see because they’re in school, they’re in other activities, and now their playground is their backyard,” Bouie said.