Light Bringer Project’s chalk festival gallery has no walls, but its artists have plenty to say

What began as an empty stretch of pavement at Brookside Park quickly became a giant outdoor art gallery.

On Sept. 26 and 27, people from Pasadena and surrounding areas came to the Pasadena Chalk Festival to see artists turn the ground into colorful works of art. The festival featured around 200 murals, plus an art gallery, silent auction, live DJ, food vendors and plenty of space to walk around and enjoy the artwork.

The festival was free to the public and took place near Kidspace Museum at Brookside Park. With so many different pieces to see, it was easy to spend hours walking around and looking at the artwork. But behind each piece was a different story.

Some artists created pieces based on their families, while others used their art to speak about issues that matter to them or their communities.

One of those pieces was “Adventure with Me” by artist Ashleigh Abram.

At first, the piece may look like a fun picture of two stuffed animals. But there is a personal story behind it. The stuffed animals, BB and Marshal, belong to Abram’s daughters and have traveled all over the world with them.

BB appears on the left side of the piece, while Marshal appears on the right. Abram used these stuffed animals as the inspiration for her artwork because of the memories and adventures they have shared with her daughters.

Instead of just creating something that looked nice, Abram turned something from her family’s everyday life into a piece other people could see and connect.

Another artist at the festival, 14-year-old Angelo Jones, used his artwork to talk about something very different.

Jones created a piece called “Anti AI,” which focuses on artificial intelligence and its effect on creativity. Jones said, “It is upsetting that companies are monopolizing over the lack of creativity.”

For Jones, the piece was a way to share his thoughts about what could happen to human creativity as artificial intelligence becomes more common. He also believes younger people should have a voice in protecting art and human expression.

His piece shows that the Chalk Festival was not just about making something colorful. Artists could use the festival to talk about what they care about and share their opinions with people who stopped to look at their work.

One of the most community-focused pieces at the festival was “Altadena Strong,” created by Heather Hillard Vons with Teresa Chandrabibya.

The inspiration behind the piece was simple: They did not want people to forget about Altadena.

For Hillard Vons, the artwork was personal. As an artist of color, she wanted to include Black art in her piece and create something that represented her. She also wanted to represent Altadena because it is a community she grew up in.

The piece also focused on the people of Altadena who are still trying to rebuild their lives and return home. Hillard Vons wanted people to know the community is still fighting and that work is still being done to help people recover.

For Chandradibya, that message was especially personal because she is one of the people connected to the community and its recovery.

The three pieces — “Adventure with Me,” “Anti AI” and “Altadena Strong” — are all very different. One is about family and memories. One is about technology and protecting human creativity. The other is about community, identity and remembering a place that has been through a lot.

That is part of what made walking through the Chalk Festival so interesting. You could look at one piece and see bright colors and designs, but then learn the story behind it and realize there was much more to it.

Hundreds of people came from different places to see the artwork and spend time at Brookside Park. Families walked around, people stopped to take pictures, and visitors could grab food from vendors such as Pie ‘N Burger, Majano’s Coffee, Ice Princess and Dina’s Dumpling.

The festival also lets people support the arts in the Pasadena community. The Light Bringer Project, a nonprofit arts organization that serves Pasadena and the greater Los Angeles area, produces it. The organization works to bring visual and literary arts to students and community members throughout the area.

For many of the artists, the festival was a chance to create something they cared about and share it with people they might never have met otherwise.

From two well-traveled stuffed animals to a teenager speaking out about artificial intelligence to a community coming together to remember Altadena, the artwork at the festival showed that art can mean something different to everyone.

At the end of the day, the Chalk Festival was more than just drawings made with chalk on the ground. It was a place where artists could share their memories, their opinions and their communities with everyone.