VENTURA : Students Chalk One Up for Art in Public Places

The aim of Ventura High School’s annual chalk festival is to give young artists a chance to copy famous paintings, to encourage other students’ artistic appreciation and to generally make art part of the public domain.

But 16-year-old Jennifer McPhie’s reason for enjoying the festival is less lofty.

“It gives us a chance to get dirty,” said Jennifer, whose arms, face and legs were smeared with colored chalk by the middle of the festival Thursday.

The junior was one of about 100 Ventura High students who participated in the chalk festival throughout the day, drawing giant chalk replicas of famous paintings on large sheets of white canvas.

Modeled after an annual event in Santa Barbara, the chalk festival allows art students to learn by copying the work of famous artists, while at the same time sparking their classmates’ interest in art, said art teacher Patricia Post.

All of the finished work will be hung in classrooms and offices around the school.

English teacher Tamara Currie already has two of the chalk drawings from previous festivals on her classroom walls, and this year she will get another--a copy of a Monet painting.

Although Currie teaches social studies and English rather than art, the drawings in her room stimulate classroom discussions, she said.

“It’s great how having a piece of artwork really titillates the students’ interest in art,” she said.

Students raised money from teachers and local businesses to cover the cost of materials, with remaining funds going to defray student costs for taking Advanced Placement exams in studio art, which cost $102 per test, Post said.

Although the chalk drawings are copied, they still pose an artistic challenge to the students, Post said. Students must guard against distortion because the canvas sheets, each measuring several feet wide, are much larger than the photographs they are copying from.

To some students, the work was challenging not only artistically, but physically. Drawing on such large canvases forced them to stretch and crouch in ways that were not always comfortable.

“Oh my Lord,” said Jennifer, as she stood to stretch after working on a colorful replica of a Paul Gaugin painting. “It’s like playing Twister.”