Art Along the Rogue
One weekend every Fall, the streets in down town Grants Pass get transformed into a temporary art gallery. We loaded up our family to take a closer look at the Art Along the Rogue festival.
What is Art Along the Rogue?
Art Along the Rogue is a FREE three day festival each October. The artists begin on Friday and work through the weekend until their works are complete. Some finished Saturday, most finished Sunday, and a couple worked until late in the day Sunday.
Each year the festival has a different theme. This year’s theme was blockbusters. Each art piece was based off a blockbuster movie. I enjoyed the timelessness of this theme since my toddler hasn’t heard of most of these films, and it was fun to see her reaction to art of films from my own childhood.
The artwork is created by amateur and professional artists. A lot of the amateur pieces surprised me when I found out they weren’t pros. There was definitely a lot of local talent on display.
Saturday’s Chalk Art
We went midday on Saturday and got to see all the chalk art while it was being worked on. The artists seemed to have different strategic approaches to their work. Most seemed to have a smaller printed image with grids laid across it which corresponded to the grids they made on the larger piece they were creating.
Some worked from inside outward. Some went from side to side. Some pieces are 3D where you need to view from a specific vantage point to see the effect.
Here’s a look at Saturday’s chalk art progress.
Sunday’s Chalk Art
After seeing Saturday’s creations, we knew we needed to make time on Sunday afternoon to see how they turned out.
Saturday seemed to be a lot of foundation work, and the details went on later Saturday and Sunday. The artists had different approaches on applying the details without ruining the rest of the piece. Most were sitting or kneeling on cardboard while they worked on top of their art. My back hurts just thinking about spending 3 days crouched over pavement in the hot sun covered in chalk dust. If they can do this out there just imagine what they can do in an air conditioned environment.
Here are the completed (or almost completed) chalk art pieces.
Children’s Chalk Art
The festival has smaller squares designated for children to create their own chalk art. It’s free to participate and chalk was provided.
Music, Food, and Shopping
In true southern Oregon festival style, there was also a performance stage with live music, lots of food trucks, and vendor tents. They even had aerial acrobatic performances to enjoy while the children made their masterpieces.
Family Traditions
Art Along the Rogue is a FREE festival. This was our first time visiting it, but it won’t be our last. I’m hoping to make it a new family tradition. If you’re thinking about attending, but you can only fit in one day, I’d suggest starting with Sunday afternoon when the chalk art is complete.