Chalk Art Festival puts the focus on foster kids

More than ever, this year’s Youthville Chalk Art Festival will be about the young people it’s held to help.

That’s because some of the professional artists participating in the event are basing their chalk drawings on the true stories of youngsters in foster care.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” said Hannah Scott, one of the artists. “I feel like they’re putting more of a focus on Youthville rather than have artists just come in and do their thing.”

Members of the public get to do their thing, too. They will be given chalk and invited to use the sidewalks around Old Town Square to create their own works of art. Live music, giveaways and informational booths round out the event, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, although donations are encouraged for face painting, balloon twisting and some other activities.

Youthville is a nonprofit that provides foster and residential care and mental health treatment. LeAnne Miller, the organization’s vice president for advancement, said there are currently 2,500 licensed foster families in Kansas, far short of what’s required to care for over 6,500 kids in the foster care system.

“It’s an all-time high,” she said.

The festival was started eight years ago in Newton and moved to Wichita four years ago to increase its visibility. Last year’s festival drew about 4,000 people and raised some $30,000 for Youthville’s Kansas Kids Fund, mostly through corporate sponsorships, Miller said.

Scott is part-owner and illustrator in a business called Stamp Yo Face that makes rubber stamps. She was given a story written by a 13-year-old foster child named Sarah.

“Her story was kind of like, ‘the world is on my shoulders, everything’s up to me, and I have to figure things out on my own,’” Scott said. “Being 13 and feeling that way, I felt a connection to her.”

The artists were also shown photographs of shoes decorated by the children to show their “journey through the foster care system,” Miller said. Sarah’s included an illustration of a man with the world on his shoulders.

“They were able to kind of put their artistic interpretation on that, and we hope to draw inspiration from the shoes they decorated,” Scott said. “They’re so young. Hopefully, in some way, I can kind of validate their feelings – feeling wanted or appreciated in life.”

About 40 local and regional artists will be working in the square, including members of ICT-Army of Artists, who plan to turn a Youthville box truck into a rolling mural. The working theme of that project is the journey that some children make from Central and South America to join their families in this country.

“It’s going to be permanent, then we might ask them to do it again next year,” Miller said.

Musicians Aaron Lee Martin, Besides Daniel, Jack Korbel and Ryan Windham will play one-hour sets. Members of the Wichita Arts Guild will make and sell customized screen-printed T-shirts on-site.

Community members are being asked to bring enough school supplies for foster children to fill a pickup truck that will be parked at the event. “We’re being real specific about what we need,” Miller said, listing backpacks, notebook paper, binders and folders, ballpoint pens, scissors, rulers, protractors, compasses and calculators.

Scott and other professional artists are drawing on birch wood, with the finished works to be given to sponsors. Most of the sidewalk art will wash away in a few days, but Miller said the demand for foster care is ongoing. While the festival is mostly about having fun, Miller said she hopes the chalk works inspired by foster kids’ own words will make an impact.

“They’re very real,” she said of those stories. “I wouldn’t say sad, just very real.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Chalk Art Festival puts the focus on foster kids."