Over 100 students competed in the Big Fresno Fair chalk drawing contest on Oct. 13. The allure of messy hands and blue ribbons led art teacher Sharon Scharf and nine of her students to participate in the event.

Scharf has been attending the chalk contests for five years in order to expose her students to new kinds of art and publicize the school, she said.

“I like to have our school represented and to get our name out there,” Scharf said. “It’s also a good opportunity for art students to explore something new.”

Four teams on campus signed up to participate in the contest. The juniors, Ashlyn White and Bree Ainley, entered a piece called “How the West was Won.”

The four sophomore boys called their drawing “Welcome to the Wild West.” Sophomores Lizzie Williams and Bianca Hinojosa named their artwork “Fun at the Fair.”

“The best part was being able to be at the fair instead of school,” Forrest Hale, who competed in the sophomore team, said. “My highlights were hanging out with friends, eating the original soft taco and just having a good time. I will definitely do it again next year.”

Although chalk drawing may seem like a childhood pastime to some, 12 high school teams came to create chalk art.

Chelsea Jones, a senior from Kingsburg High school, said she likes the idea of getting to show her creativity through chalk.

“Our art teacher told us about the event and we thought it would be cool to come try out,” Jones said. “I am the president of the art club at my school, and I thought this would be a neat opportunity to get out of school and do something fun and creative.”

Katie Barisic, ’13, entered the competition for the first time but was eager to show her artistic work, she said. She competed by herself and produced a drawing called “The West Happened, Mel Brook-it.”

“Mrs. Scharf asked me if I would want to participate in the contest and I thought it would be fun,” Barisic said. “Chalk isn’t my cup of tea but I like the creative aspect of it. This is my first time in the contest and I am looking forward to participating in the next few years.”

Senior Lucky Sovvannasack from Washington Union High School said he felt discouraged with his art piece until he saw the finished product.

“I came to the contest ready to show people my artwork,” Sovvannasack said. “I was frustrated at first because the drawing didn’t seem to be coming out right. But when I finished, I was happy because it all came together.”

After the judges had finished evaluating the submissions, the winners were announced. First place went to Michael Heirendt, ’10, and Andrew Johncox, ’11, from Sierra High School. They named their drawing “The Good Old Days.”

“I am pretty shocked we won,” Heirendt said. “I just thought we would go to have fun and it was an opportunity to do some art. We didn’t think we would end up winning.”

Johncox said his team triumphed over a few obstacles to win the competition.

“We had one of our teammates drop out of the contest,” Johncox said. “We also didn’t receive our board to draw on until a half an hour after the contest began. To make matters worse, we forgot our sketch at home, so we had to remember what to draw.”

Joseph Levy, the fair’s superintendent of the fine arts and photography, has managed the chalk contest for 10 years. Levy got the idea for it while on vacation with his wife, he said.

“We were in Europe and saw a chalk contest occurring on the street,” Levy said. “I loved the idea so I brought it back with me to the Fresno Fair. We can then auction off the art and the money goes to their school’s art program.”

Levy often finds himself drawn back to the chalk contests due to the hard work of the students and the excellence of their artwork, he said.

“I like to see the creative artwork the students come up with,” Levy said. “I also think the quality of the art is amazing. I have two chalk drawings from the fair that I have had in my house for eight years. I love to see the excitement on people’s faces when they view the chalk drawings.”

For more information on art class activities, e-mail Scharf or visit the Oct. 12, 2009 article, Fair competition showcases high school artwork.