Credit: Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Over the past 28 years, the Cleveland Museum of Art‘s Chalk Festival has become one of the museum’s most highly anticipated community art events. This weekend, the event returns.

It’s based on a Renaissance tradition from 16th-century Italy in which beggars copied paintings of the Madonna by Raphael and his contemporaries by using chalk on the plazas outside cathedrals.

Large squares (approximately 3-by-4-feet of sidewalk) can be reserved for $20 (includes a 24-color box of chalk), and small squares (approximately 2-by-3-feet) are $10 (including a 12-color box of chalk).

It all takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine.

Here’s a slideshow from last year’s festival to remind you of just how much fun it is.

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This article appears in Sep 11-17, 2019.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.