Art center to brighten up downtown Highland Park during annual chalk fundraiser on Saturday

Four years ago, when the public was advised to avoid congregating in enclosed spaces to prevent the spread of COVID-19, James Lynch concocted a way to safely bring people together to make art. 

As director of the Art Center Highland Park, Lynch drew families to the stretch of sidewalk around the downtown building and sold boxes of chalk to raise money for the center’s classes. About 50 people attended and covered the concrete with colorful imagery.

Three years later, in 2024, the event grew to 300 people. 

Lynch anticipates the same amount, if not more, will participate this year in the Art Center Highland Park’s fourth annual Draw Together event set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, outside its headquarters located at 1957 Sheridan Road.

A box of sidewalk chalk and designated square of concrete costs $35.

“I always wanted to do something with chalk art because nobody’s ever intimidated by chalk art,” Lynch said. “People say ‘I’m not an artist,’ but they’ll write something or draw stick fingers and you never have to give people the instructions.”

Saturday’s event will feature live music from Laura Doherty & the Heartbeats, a meet-and-greet with Daisy from WTTW’s kids show Nature Cat, and a visit from the animatronic Dolores Kohl Education Foundation’s Animal Orchestra On Tour. 

Attendees can also get their face painted and eat from The Fat Shallot food truck.

Unlike the art center’s other fundraisers, Lynch said all of the money raised from the Draw Together event goes toward the center’s all-year-long educational programming, which offers classes for students and therefore comes as an expensive- or break-even-cost for the independent nonprofit.

The family-oriented event helps underwrite those programs as the center never turns away a student in need of financial aid and hands out 100 scholarships a year, Lynch said. 

Sponsors can also purchase chalk boxes to donate them to other youth organizations. Last year, one anonymous Highland Parker bought 100 chalk boxes alone to distribute out and foster art around their neighborhood, Lynch said.

Center-affiliated artists will also be chalking out logos from sponsors during the event while helping attendees and drawing their own designs. More than 100 sidewalk squares will be available, so there’s no threat of running out of space, Lynch said.

While the Draw Together fundraiser was born from the restraints of the pandemic, its popularity has since inspired other programming at the art center, namely more events focused on gathering people together. The art center now hosts regular poetry readings, drum circles, potluck dinners and more. 

“Before COVID, it was education, events and exhibits that was the full brunt of what the art center did,” Lynch said. “But one of the lessons of COVID was people wanted to come together and art was the safe space for them to do it. So now we’re events, education, exhibits and community-building.”

“We’ve really embraced our role as a center of the community,” Lynch added. 

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