Chalk It Up To Sacramento aims to empower the next generation of artists by providing grant funding and programs for teachers and schools to give equitable access to the arts for all students, with an emphasis on serving our region’s most vulnerable populations. The annual three-day Chalk It Up! Chalk Art & Music Festival, a vibrant celebration of our local arts community and artists of all ages, is offered free to the public over Labor Day weekend, serving as a gift to the city and the greater Sacramento region.
“Chalk It Up to Sacramento It’s the Chalk of the Town,” better known as Chalk It Up, was first established in 1991 through the hard work of local artists and community art supporters who wanted to bring the transient beauty of Madonnari, the Italian tradition of street painting, to Sacramento. They held the first Chalk It Up Festival at what is now known as Cesar Chavez Park. In 1993, Chalk it Up received its non-profit status and moved the festival to its current home at Fremont Park in Midtown, Sacramento.
The Chalk It Up Festival promotes community pride, civic participation, and social connection. Even with the rising cost of insurance, park rental, security, and rental equipment, keeping this festival free for the community remains a core value of the Chalk It Up board of directors.
As a non-profit arts organization, we are best known for the Chalk It Up! Chalk Art & Music Festival, a three-day celebration of local artists and the arts community. This festival, one of the last free, family-friendly festivals in Midtown Sacramento, has seen a remarkable increase in visitors over the last few years. With hundreds of artists creating sidewalk chalk murals, dozens of local artisans and makers, local food and treat vendors, a beer garden, and a diverse line-up of live local musicians and DJs, the festival truly reflects the diverse and inclusive Sacramento art scene. It’s the way that approximately 40k people, from all walks of life, choose to celebrate their Labor Day Weekend.
Artist at work.
Artist at work.
Artist at work.
Our Chalk It Up Grant Program offers grants to schools and organizations needing funding for youth arts education programs. We fund mostly Title 1 schools on a biannual grant application cycle to coordinate funding with the Spring and Fall school semesters. Art departments in schools are typically underfunded. Chalk It Up Grants are often used to help an under-served school take a field trip and to purchase much-needed art supplies, allowing teachers and students to explore new mediums. With the help of community giving, we've sprinkled over $80,000 in grants to local schools and programs over the last decade to support the next generation of artists. CLICK HERE to see some of the projects we've funded.
Celebrating our local educators and their grant checks.
At the annual High School Self-Portrait Show, High School art teachers submit their top student works to hang in a gallery show with their peers. Athletes have games, musicians have concerts, but student visual artists don't often get the opportunity to participate in events with the other local student artists. We sponsor a gallery exhibit for a month and host a 2nd Saturday Artists' and Art Teachers' Reception open to the public. Local artists and the Chalk It Up Board members adjudicate the show and awards and metals are presented at the reception. NEW FOR 2024: Cash prizes for the award-winning student artists and grants for their teachers to purchase classroom art supplies. A total of $6,000 was awarded in 2024, half to the student artists and half to the teachers to support their work!
2024 "Best in Show"
2024 Award Winners
2024 Award Winners
"For the Love of Community" Chalk Art Mural by artist Will Morris for the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.