Chalk artist to create murals in Duluth parks through June

Jun 11, 2023

DULUTH — Annmarie Geniusz found her passion for chalk art right before the pandemic. She's been an artist for many years, but only started doing chalk art at festivals in 2019.

"A lot of the chalk festivals that summer went virtual and asked people to draw a picture on your 10-by-10 foot driveway and send it to them," Geniusz said. "And I realized, I don't actually have a practice space that's 10-by-10 by my 100-year-old house in Duluth and our driveway is gravel. So I started looking for other places around the city where you could chalk this size."

This search led her to Duluth's public parks and inspired her current project. Every Wednesday in June, weather pending, Geniusz plans to create a different chalk mural in a different Duluth park.

"But, being a professional chalk artist, I didn't want to just invade a space, so I asked permission and stuff. And since I was doing that, I thought, 'Well, why don't I write all these thoughts down and put it in a small grant application to see if they can help me buy some chalk?'" Geniusz said. "And to my delight, everyone said 'yes!'"

Geniusz received an Arrowhead Regional Arts Council grant for her project.

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Geniusz picked a variety of parks to ensure she reached different neighborhoods across the city. Over the winter, she started planning her designs by reaching out to friends who do local research and learning more about the parks and their histories.

"Judy Gibbs gave me a lot of info and started hooking me up with other resources to help me find out more about the parks," Geniusz said. "So three of them will have some historic context; one I didn't find out quite enough info, so that'll have a more modern design."

While researching the parks, Geniusz said she found out more about the city that's been her home for 16 years.

"For example, I feel like everyone else already knew this, but I didn't know that the reason that Fourth Street is such a straight line across the city is because it's an old trolley route," Geniusz said. "So that got me thinking about trolleys and public transportation and all these things that got incorporated into the theme there."

Geniusz said she started with chalk art at Chalk.a.Lot, a chalk art festival in Two Harbors. She started with one small sidewalk square and found it was something she really enjoyed doing.

"You just kind of get started and get hooked," she said. "So I started applying to all sorts of festivals in small towns over Wisconsin and Minnesota and started becoming a featured artist."

Her experience in various towns helped her prepare for the space in the parks here. Geniusz said she tends to go for spaces that have cement rather than bituminous surfaces.

"And I'll be predominantly using artists' pastels on the spaces so that it can be washed off quickly, as that's what the city preferred," she said. "Though if I do a chalk art festival, then we tend to use tempera paints."

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The public is welcome to watch as she chalks on Wednesdays throughout June. She plans to be at Merritt Park on June 7, Portland Square Park on June 14, Keene Creek Park on June 21 and Cascade Park on June 28, weather permitting.

She plans to have spare chalk on hand so those observing can feel welcome to add their own artwork to the remaining space, but emphasized that this isn't a chalk festival.

"I'm certainly not able to do my work and watch children, so please, no unattended kids," Geniusz said. "I understand that people would feel inspired and want to participate so that's welcome."

Check A.Geniusz_Art on Facebook and Instagram to check for any weather postponements.

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