Chicago's only chalk art festival returns to Rogers Park

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The diversity of Howard Street is on display in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, all in the form of chalk art.

Artists from around the country are in town this weekend this weekend to showcase their talent for the city's only chalk art festival called Chalk Howard Street.

The free and outdoor event is back and in person for the first time since before the pandemic in 2019.

"I love it, it's amazing that everybody can come out and really participate," said Amanda-lee Harris Gibbs, of California.

Each artist is chalking up their own kind of swagger and style on the pavement.

"Harrison Ford is from Chicago and one of my favorite movies is Indiana Jones," said Gibbs. "So I thought I would do like a little you know to him and, do something that people could also remember and get in and be a part of."

Gibbs and sister Harmony Harris are travelling the country together for festivals just like this one.

"She's where I got my start," said Harris of her sister Gibbs. "She taught me when I was little and like it's been really cool to kind of tag along with her and work alongside her."

The sisters help each other out and both are trying to give special tributes to Chicago through their art.

"My piece that I'm doing is going to be Iron Heart but I kind of tweaked a little bit," explained Harris. "So she's flying over the Chicago skyline just because I think it's fun for you know, people in the neighborhood to see like a little bit of themselves and art pieces."

The art is also interactive. When standing in a specific spot spectators can see the art lift as in 3-D form and it's even better through a camera lens.

"You can come and take a photo while you're flying on the dragon or something like that," said Ravenswood resident Kristen Quinn. "We love it. It's also great to see it in progress before it's all complete."

The festival runs Saturday 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. on Howard Street between Paulina and Ashland, east of the Howard Red Line 'L' stop.