CHALK ART: Princeton Makes will host its inaugural Chalk Festival on Saturday, May 14 from 12 to 4 p.m. Shown is a work created for Communiversity, which formerly featured the event.

The Inaugural Princeton Makes Chalk Festival will take place on Saturday, May 14 from 12 to 4 p.m. outside the Princeton Makes store at the Princeton Shopping Center.

The Chalk Festival will feature local middle and high school students making large chalk drawings in the courtyard.  These drawings will be either reproductions or original art of the students. There will also be a chalk area specifically for younger children who want to create their own works.

The Chalk Festival continues a 25-year tradition of public chalk drawings which had been done by local students at Communiversity. The founders of the event, Lisa and Jim Levine, had been looking for another venue for the event, and the Princeton Shopping Center made space available for it to continue the tradition.

Levine noted that “The chalk drawings at Communiversity were a fun way for local students to show their artistic skills in a public forum and allow people to see art being made right in front of them.  Unfortunately we have not been able to run the event for the past two years, but we’re thrilled to be able to recreate it at the Princeton Shopping Center on May 14.”

Princeton Makes is a cooperative comprised of 32 local artists who work across a range of artistic genres, including painting, drawing, stained glass, sculpture, textiles, and jewelry. Customers are able to support local artists by shopping for a wide variety of art, including large paintings, prints, custom-made greeting cards, stained glass lamps and window hangings, jewelry in a variety of designs and patterns, and more.

For more information, visit  princetonmakes.com.