Denali Miller blows yellow chalk dust off his drawing of an abstract pattern on the sidewalk outside Vancouver City Hall.
“This is one of my favorite days,” he said during the eighth annual Chalk the Walks program Tuesday. “Everybody is having a good time.”
Chalk the Walks is a day dedicated to spreading joy by drawing pictures and messages on sidewalks across America with colorful chalk. It was founded by Michele Larsen of Vancouver, as part of a nonprofit called Joy Team, aimed at sending positive messages in different ways.
Miller, 17, went to the last two Chalk the Walks, but he said this year drew the biggest crowd.
Larsen echoed that, saying that Chalk the Walks is growing, but the purpose stays the same: “It’s just to make people smile,” she said, wearing a yellow smiley T-shirt that matched balloons tied to strings around City Hall.
Over 200 people filtered through the sidewalk area, where music and free chalk made for a colorful time.
“Somebody might walk by and see something nice. It might make their day,” Larsen said, “Who knows how that might ripple out?”
Myron Parker was one of those people. Parker was singing in Esther Short Park and blowing his ram’s horn when he saw the chalk and the flurry of activity near City Hall. He decided to join.
“That’s a good message, right there,” he said, pointing his chalk to some of the drawings and words on the sidewalk. “Most of the things are about joy,” he said. Parker said he is from Compton, Calif., but now lives in Portland.
Parker contributed by drawing a hopscotch court and playing a round, and he left saying he was a little happier from the event.
Chalk the Walks has caught attention from city government partners around the U.S., including Riverside, Calif., and Elkton, Md. The Chalk the Walks Facebook event has people posting from cities scattered throughout the country.
Larsen said Vancouver hosted 35 different chalk-drawing locations around the city, involving neighborhood associations, parks and recreation buildings and small businesses.
But chalk isn’t the only way the Joy Team spreads its message. Larsen said Pacific Outdoor Billboard donates two billboards a month to The Joy Team. Larsen then uses them to put up messages such as “You are enough” or “Love who you are. We do.”
The Joy teams has put up 1,471 similar billboards around the country.
Outside City Hall, a yellow banner reads, “Every 10 seconds, someone is awesome. It’s you.”
This is the first year Chalk the Walks has been hosted at City Hall. The last six years, the event was hosted on Main Street.
Larsen hopes to see Chalk the Walks grow as big as Valentine’s Day, and her daughter, Taryn Larsen, 14, hopes to keep it going for the rest of her life.
The two started The Joy Team in 2010. Taryn said she remembers her mom reading books about happiness and seeing hate in the news. When her mom first presented the idea to her when Taryn was 6 years old, she was immediately on board.
“I think my mom is doing good,” she said.
