Artists talk inspiration for pieces at Berkley Street Art Fest

BERKLEY  — Downtown Berkley saw many visitors on Coolidge Highway to check out the Berkley Street Art Fest.

The Street Art Fest took place on Saturday, July 12, with many in attendance to participate in the yearly chalk art contest.

Visiting Berkley for the first time to participate in the contest was Hilary MacDonald and her daughter, Matilda.

MacDonald had participated in similar kinds of chalk art contests where she’s from in Lansing and loved it so much that she searched out similar events, leading her to Berkley.

For her chalk art, MacDonald painted Roger Rabbit and Eddie Valiant, played by Bob Hoskins, from the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

“It’s just such a great movie,” she said of her choice of art. “I loved it as a kid. I love watching it now. It’s just a unique movie and I thought the juxtaposition of the realistic man and the cartoony bunny would be fun to draw.”

MacDonald tends to pull her artistic inspirations from pop culture, whether it’s superheroes or Audrey II and Seymour from “Little Shop of Horrors.”

As for why she loves chalk art, MacDonald explained that she loves how messy it is and how the colors blend together.

“I like the different effects you can get,” she said. “I like that you don’t have to be super precious about it because it’s temporary, because it’s all going to get washed away anyways. So you can just have fun and not worry about it looking perfect forever.”

Aside from the chalk art contests, visitors also could participate in various community art projects from David Zinn and Daniel Cascardo, and meet with puppies that were up for adoption.

Much like last year, the Street Art Fest had an unfortunate date with storms as rainfall brought the event to a halt.

Working until the very end on his chalk art was JJ Lopez, of Berkley. This was Lopez’s first time participating in the contes,t as he wanted to step out of his comfort zone and share a talent he worked on during COVID-19.

Lopez’s chalk art was of a butterfly and a bee, two insects that had personal significance to him, representing his mother and his best friend, Matt Shinabarger, respectively.

“Butterflies are my mom’s favorite insect, and she passed (away) a few years ago,” he said. “Bees are (Shinabarger’s) favorite, and he’s my best friend. So, I wanted to just combine the two and kind of bring a positive message to the city.”

Lopez said he didn’t really have to draw any sketches of what he wanted his art to look like, as he was just able to picture in his head what he wanted it to be.

“I wanted to highlight the wings more than anything else and to make it kind of realistic, but cartoonish without having to be a full cartoon,” he said. “(Chalk art is) a way of expressing my creative self and (I) try to use that to have people see a message and be positive and kind of bring some light into this world that’s not the best.”