Be responsible with chalk art

Be responsible with chalk art

I enjoy chalk drawings. Chalk is fun, easy to use, nostalgically childish, and its temporary nature gives you societal permission to draw and write things where you otherwise could not.

When I went on college tours, I thought it was really cool when I saw that students had students used chalk to advertise for campus events. Although that rarely happens at Wooster, students still use chalk for fun, especially to share random messages with the rest of the campus. I enjoyed the sayings and images scrawled outside the library towards the end of last semester, even if I only occasionally understood what they meant.

When I returned to Wooster this spring, I was surprised to see that many of the chalk messages and symbols were still visible around campus. I thought chalk was temporary, but soon realized that there is an important distinction between chalk on horizontal and vertical surfaces. Chalk is only temporary when it is written where rain or snow can reach it. By and large, chalk written on the ground or other horizontal surfaces will be washed away, while chalk on vertical surfaces, especially the sides of buildings, tends to linger.

Drawing with chalk on vertical surfaces is problematic because the temporary nature of chalk is central to its social acceptance. Chalk is immune from the stigmas regarding graffiti, or at least it should be, since everyone knows that chalk will vanish the next time it rains. When chalk is used on vertical surfaces, it becomes much less likely to be removed by precipitation. Chalk drawings on the sides of public buildings, such as Wooster’s dorms and academic facilities, can only be removed by someone expending effort to do so. Suddenly, the chalk messages are no longer innocuous, temporary forms of self-expression but rather defacement of Wooster’s shared space.

I will not pretend that I have any interest in sounding like your RA; going on about community standards and other such unwieldy abstractions. I merely hope that the reputation of the unique art form of chalk is not sullied by individuals on campus drawing where they should not.

Wyatt Smith is a Copy Editor for the Voice and can be reached for comment at WSmith14@wooster.edu.