Photo by Amber Phipps
Participants Saturday paint on their section of the sidewalk along Market Street during Chalk the Block.
PARKERSBURG – Market Street Saturday was bustling with creative energy at the Parkersburg Art Center’s annual ArtOberfest.
The festivities began with Chalk the Block in the early afternoon with artists painting the sidewalks on Market Street.
Artists could register beforehand or at the event for a space on the sidewalk to paint. More than 20 artists registered for the event.
“We usually have between 20-30 people registered to do Chalk the Block and then anybody in the community, even if they’re not registered, can come and participate,” Parkersburg Art Center’s Managing Director Jessie Siefert said.
Siefert said she’s been managing director since 2018 and has been with the art center since 2006.
“ArtOberfest is in its eighth year now and Chalk the Block began after the first couple years of the event,” she said. “This is a great time of year to do these things.”
Siefert said people can vote on the sidewalk art and they reveal the winners of the teen and adult categories at the end of the day. Winners receive cash prizes for their artwork.
“Starting at 5 p.m., we have about 25 fine art vendors and we have food trucks and kids activities,” she said. “There are pottery demonstrations, wood carving demonstrations and live performances from Jesse Forest and Division Street.”
Siefert said they have a little bit of everything and something for everyone. She said the event is free to the public because of their sponsors but they do take donations to continue supporting the art center.
“It’s always a lot of fun and we love the mix of food and drinks and music and art,” she said.
Williamstown local Camille Pevers was one of the registered artists participating in Chalk the Block. She said this was her first year participating and she heard about the event from a friend.
“I commission artwork around town and this is the first year I saw Chalk the Block and thought it would be fun,” said Pevers.
She painted a blue balloon animal on the sidewalk using the pastel chalk provided by the Parkersburg Art Center.
“Art is a creative outlet and it helps people express their emotions properly,” she said. “It’s a cultural significance and without art we wouldn’t know really anything about our culture.”
Pevers said art is important to her and she is planning on attending ArtOberfest next year.
According to Siefert, some new additions to ArtOberfest this year included more food trucks and moving the kids activities outdoors.
“We’ll continue to listen to the response from our attendees and see what we might do differently or better, because you can always do more and you can always do better,” said Siefert.
Along with all the festival activities, food, music, and art, attendees could also explore the Holly Cole exhibit in the art center.
For more information on the Parkersburg Art Center go to parkersburgartcenter.org
Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com
Individuals who registered to paint on the Market Street sidewalks during ArtOberfest’s Chalk the Block received pastel chalks to paint with on Saturday.
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