Esotropiart

Since I last wrote about the topic, I have been thinking about sidewalk chalk, call me strange (please). I have been wondering about the legality of it. Is it against the law to draw on the sidewalk in front of one's house? I wouldn't be at all surprised to find an obscure law about it somewhere in the city statutes, but who knows them all or enforces them. There are some pretty ridiculous laws from times of old. However, it seems somewhat reasonable to disallow this activity because it so closely resembles vandalism. I think the key is that chalk washes away in the rain - or alternatively, it can be washed quite easily by applying water. Plus, I found a few extreme cases where people were arrested for drawing with chalk, but usually it involved illegal "advertising without a license" or inappropriate content mislabeled as "art".

Interesting contrast: The same product, 816, from who knows how long ago (pre-Crayola?) and of today, side-by-side. Notice any differences? First, the old one had 16 pieces, each color different. The new one has 12 pieces, 2 each of six unique colors. Wow, what happened? Talk about cutting costs! I'm keeping this vintage box now, especially since I can get the new ones at work for 41 cents (employee major discount). Oh, and by the way, the retail price of the old box is 15 cents!

Sidewalk chalk drawing is one of those things every parent and child takes for granted. Think about hopscotch, smiley faces, arrows leading to a "secret treasure", you name it! Probably virtually no one thinks about whether it is legal or not, and what locations are okay and others not. I found some cases on the web that suggest schools and universities are perhaps the most common instigators of policies on the subject. Often students are limited in their drawings, and the content must be approved first. That's all good and fine, but what about your average sidewalk or city park path? I wonder. So far I haven't found any concrete (no pun intended) documentation on the legality of chalk drawing. If anyone knows, I'd be interested to hear, but cite your sources so I can confirm.

My guess is that in general, it is not illegal to draw with chalk on an average sidewalk in a residential area in the U.S. If it was absolutely illegal, I think it would be easier to find information, and more people would know. If it is illegal, then why is there such thing as Sidewalk Chalk? Are the sellers of this chalk like those who put their MP3s in sharing networks, making themselves questionably quasi-guilty, quasi-innocent... along the same line of thought as "guns don't kill people; people do".

The best sidewalk artist I've seen: Kurt Wenner's Masterful Artistry. His images have the common theme of going deeper below the surface, and their subject matter seems deeper as well. The style has a built-in religious tone to it, like classic (neoclassical) images from the Renaissance.