Chalk it UP Beaufort 2025-Thank you all

Chalk it Up Beaufort 2025 moved at the speed of light from our first meeting to the last table, which was folded and returned. Our opening ceremony exceeded our expectations as Tabby Place came to life with artists, sponsors, community leaders, and residents wanting to know more. During Aunt Pearlie Sue and The Gullah Kinfolks' performance, I knew I wasn't the only one who felt their song's electricity as feet tapped, shoulders swayed, and hands clapped. Little did I know, this was just the beginning.

First Place Winner Peoples Choice!

Day two came bright and early, and artists from near and far wasted no time turning pavement into pure masterpieces as visitors watched with wonder. As the day went on, joy multiplied with the colors of the chalk. Residents, tourists, community leaders, artists, and art lovers poured through the gates to experience the power of art, not knowing they were as much a part of the completed work as the strokes from the artists. Even the enthusiastic sand gnats could not dampen the pure sunshine flowing through the festival. Donning mosquito nets, artists gleefully shared their creative process with passersby. With childlike wonder, all ages stood in complete awe as the artist transformed asphalt into live-size art, listening intently as the creators shared their stories.

Saturday night came without warning, and I found myself rushing from the festival to USCB for Off the Wall onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green, our featured event of the weekend. Knowing I had to speak to an excited audience, the butterflies moved in as they often do during times of intimidation. Once again, my expectations of the night proved far below reality. It was as if time stood still as I sat shoulder to shoulder with an audience so entranced by the performance that I wondered if others had to remember to breathe, too.

From one act to the next, I was in church, a blues hall, and back to church again. I felt the songs of my youth, the words of my grandmother, and the soul that only impassioned hymns can touch. History tapped me on my shoulder and made me take notes as art and dance transcended boundaries and biases and ignited the spirit of every single attendee. With each graceful pose, the dancers summoned tears, inspiration, and a shared humanity. The music took me back to old wooden pews, folded sermon fans, and the lightness of heart that comes from a well-told message. For a moment, I realized my fortune of growing up as a frequent visitor of an African American Church. I watched as those around me did their best to contain their bodies' movement and the joy in their hearts. We all failed. Singing, dancing, and standing ovations were the chosen dialect of the evening. Johnathan Green is one of us; his feet feel the pricks of oysters, his eyes see the tides change, and he knows the scent of pluff mud and the force of the ocean. His art moved the audience in ways I have never seen before, and I doubt I will again. We all felt at home in Beaufort and with each other.

Day three brought the event to a close with more mesmerizing art. Friendships started and strengthened, and for a few hours, the world saw color in the most productive way humans can: as a tool of healing, connection, and shared humanity. My determination to grow the Freedman Arts District has superseded my fear of the unknown. As the storm rolled in, threatening to wash away the event's touchable effects, it was the unreachable, unbreakable effects that remained.

Please become involved with the Freedman Arts District, donate, volunteer, sponsor, and/or attend community events. If you, too, are tired of the ties that break, we work in the world of the ties that bind. The Freedman Arts District is here to stay, to impact positive change and to remind us all that through art and creativity, we can celebrate a shared humanity. 

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