By Steve Dunkelberger
The sun is here, and that means it’s chalk off time.
Season 8, Episode 1 of the Frost Park Chalk Off came and went April 3 at the downtown pocket park, located at 9th Street and Pacific Avenue, as it has for the last eight years.
Future episodes will come at noon every Friday through October, rain or shine.
People of all shapes, ages, sizes and abilities are invited to get their chalk, or use the free chalk provided, and decorate the sidewalks and concrete retaining walls around the park in hopes of landing swag and beautifying the Tacoma landmark along the way.
Photos of each sidewalk art is posted on social media for people to vote on their favorites, which will be given prizes from local businesses to go with the bragging rights of being the top chalker of the week. Anyone can vote on at www.feedtacoma.com until midnight on the day of the contest.
Suzy Fountaine was among the season opener chalkies with a chalk art entry of superhero themed quotes. She is a member of Bonney Lake Street Art Project, a group that randomly “art bombs” the city with inspirational quotes and “Chalk Hawks,” Seahawks logo drawn on sidewalks. She was searching for like-minded groups and fellow travelers and ran across Frost Park Chalk Off’s page on Facebook.
“I basically stalked the page to find something to bring a smile to the community,” she laughed. “People love it.”
Going with a straight interpretation of the episode’s theme of superheroes and villains, Troy Kehm-Goins brought his daughter Kyra to draw “Tacoma super villains.” His art include “Dr. Dome,” a villainous concert venue; “Green Guy,” an homage to the renegade artist “CLAW;” a villain named after the local pencil pushing Cartoonist League of Absurdist Washingtonians; “PD,” the Point Defiance Squirrel; and “Tacoma Aroma,” a super villain with a chronic odor.
Kehm-Goins has attended Chalk Offs regularly for the last five years, starting at first by just watching other chalkers get dust covered while they created and then jumping into it with art of his own.
“Now, I draw year round,” he said. “Friday is my play day.”
He chalks up his carport with his neighbors and friends in the winter and spring, for fun as well as to hone his chalking skills for the official Frost Park Chalk Offs.
He has even recruited into the cause.
Among them is John Todhunter, who brought his son Owen to draw superheroes during his spring break despite the rain, because, he admits, he is hooked.
“We have been friends forever, and he has been doing this forever, so I just got into that way,” Todhunter said of Kehm-Goins.
What started out as a group of friends looking for something to do to beautify the steps of the neglected park has become a centerpiece of downtown’s art engine. It moved from receiving threats of vandalism fines in those early days to being recognized with a Frost Park Chalk Day by the City Council in 2012.
And it continues to grow. It even has developed its own slang. Chalk artists are known as “chalkies,” for example, while finger scraps caused by over-active chalking is called “flubbing the stump.”
So much slang has been created that chalkies have their own dictionary, which includes the following:
- Chalk noob — a rookie chalker.
- Popper — one who won’t shut up and let you draw.
- Scabby — hired muscle.
- Human bean juice — blood.
- Sniffy — getting dizzy, not drinking enough water.
- Sea legs — falling off the curb into the street.
- Powder puff — too much beauty bark stuck in a off-road sandal.
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John Todhunter brought his son Owen to chalk off Spiderman. Photo credit: Steve Dunkelberger. Greatest illustrator in the universe (of Tacoma) — usually Andrea.
- Chalkampion — somebody who achieves their dreams and is genuinely loved by their family.
- “Crack kills” — what you tell a pretty girl when you can see her posterior attributes.
- Log jammer — one who steals your chalk without permission.
- Floaty — a dead pigeon face down in the water feature.
- Chalk fop — anyone who uses a ruler to draw straight lines.
- Noodle hunter — a buxom woman with a mental illness.
- Type dandy — one obsessed with perfect typography.
- Line dandy — one who draws slowly.
- Black dandy — one who uses way too much charcoal.
- Sod dandy — one who loafs on grass.
- Squawk chopper — one who yells while chewing chalk sticks.
- Pickle inspector — one who is picky about chalk stick the chalk stick they select from the box.
- Knob thief — unwelcome use of your chalk nub.
- Poop turtle — a piece of gum stuck on a sidewalk canvas.
- Hat clap — handprint left by chalk dust on your hat (or bikini area).
Get your chalk on and join other chalkies each Friday through October at Frost Park in downtown Tacoma.
For more information, visit Frost Park’s Facebook page here.
