Dusty Doodlings Benefit Oxnard Schools

On any normal day, Jason Ortiz, 7, would get a heavy timeout for drawing pictures on the street, but seeing as how his swirls of color were contributing to a good cause--and were nonpermanent--his mom couldn’t object.

“It just washes off,” Jason said, concentrating his attention on his square of pavement.

At Oxnard’s Plaza Park this weekend, the closed-off street became a giant asphalt canvas, festooned with regal cougars, flitting fairies and abstract rainbows of color.

The third annual Chalk One Up for Kids festival, sponsored by the Oxnard Elementary School District Foundation, offered kids and adults a chance to get down and dirty, grab a piece of chalk and raise money for their teachers’ pet projects.

Organizers were expecting about 10,000 people by the end of the event’s second and final day and hoped to collect at least $15,000 by selling pavement art space. Spaces were purchased by individuals, while corporate sponsors secured larger spaces to be used by schools that brought teams of student artists, said Suzanne Drace, president of the school foundation.

Money raised from the event will be dispersed as grants that average $1,000 to teachers who have applied for funding on their school projects.

One artist, Robert Montelongo, 5, looked like he spent more time rolling in chalk than drawing with it. His legs were mottled in pinks and blues up to his knees, his elbows and hands smeared with dust.

That was fine with Mom, Angie Montelongo, who couldn’t help but be proud of her son’s artwork.

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“I work for the schools, and I know that it’s important for kids to get a chance to do art,” said Montelongo. “At some schools, they don’t get the chance to do much art during class.”

Creating artwork where previously there was only bumpy ground offers some challenges of its own, said Julie Kirk, a professional painter from Chino who was commissioned to create a copy of Caravaggio’s ethereal “Inspiration of St. Matthew.”

The ground is slick and rough, the artists must often contort themselves into uncomfortable positions, and the asphalt offers only a temporary canvas. Nevertheless, working in chalk offers its own satisfactions, Kirk maintains.

“It’s not a material thing. It’s about the process,” said Kirk, who thought of her work as being as much performance as finished product.

And though today cars are treading over the fruits of their weekend labors, the artists know that something lives on.

“We still saw some of the chalk from last year on the ground,” said Clara Ramos, an organizer of the event. “There’s something about the pastels that just makes them stick.”