Spring Park Place Chalk Art Tradition Facing Cancellation Due to Funding

Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance looks to the community to support local artists in an effort to maintain funding for the 2017 Park Place Chalk Art Festival in Tucson, AZ.

(TUCSON, Ariz) — For over five years, the sidewalks and walkways of Park Place in Tucson, AZ have been transformed with the original chalk art mural pieces created by local artists.  Due to budget cuts at the General Growth Properties Park Place shopping center, funding for the 2017 signature event has been put on hiatus.  

The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance is committed to continuing the legacy of bringing this unique art medium to Southern Arizona, and is currently seeking the support from local businesses and individuals who would support the endowment of individual murals.  The event is seeking funding to take place in Fall 2017.  
The Chalk Art Festival had previously been fully endowed with corporate support from General Growth Properties since the event’s inception at the center in 2012.  

The Park Place Chalk Art Festival has grown over the past five years to become a signature community event in central Tucson, drawing attendance of up to 15,000 attendees, as well as the participation of up to 20 signature artists creating original murals on the sidewalks and walkways.  In 2016, over 1,500 families and youth created their own unique progressive murals in the community participation and KidsZone areas of the two-day festival, and over 30,000 unique impressions online were socially shared from the festival. 
Presented by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance, the festival has always remained free to attend in the Spring, stretching from the entryways of Macy’s to Sears at Park Place, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd.

“Our goal is to transform our public spaces into inspirational places for creativity and art to thrive.  The Chalk Art Festival is a great opportunity to bring the arts into the community” said SAACA Executive Director Kate Marquez.  
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To keep this spectacular community tradition alive, the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance is seeking sponsors to underwrite individual artist murals in hopes to bring the event back to Park Place in Fall 2017.  SAACA is seeking a minimum of 10 individual murals, and a KidsZone sponsor to present the annual event in Fall 2017. 
In addition to supporting accessible art and amplifying community voices, sponsorship of the Chalk Art Festival project provides an opportunity for recognition and visibility for corporations, organizations, and individuals.
Professional Artist Murals

Sponsor a Chalk Art Mural $1,000/ Mural
Each featured mural artist will create an 8-by-6-foot piece, based on themes from desert landscapes and cultural inspirations to natural history and space. Professional artists will create magnificent works themed in culture, science, nature, botany, local nonprofits and more.  

Sponsors will receive their logo sketched into the mural by a local artist, as well as business or individual name recognition in all of the mural signage, as well as web, email, press and printed marketing outreach. (I wouldn’t include the sponsor benefits in the press release)

Community Participation Mural and KidsZone
Sponsor the KidsZone $3,000
A community participation mural will be developed utilizing public participants, students and event attendees in a progressive, eclectic mural growing to a super-sized street piece. The Park Place Chalk Art Festival Kidzone is a space where imaginations soar and children can participate in their own original pieces of chalk art. The Kidzone will be managed by an artist instructor specialized in working with children.

Sponsor (1 Sponsor) will receive their logo sketched into the mural by a local artist, as well as business or individual name recognition in all of the mural signage, as well as web, email, press and printed marketing outreach. 
REGISTER ONLINE: https://www.saaca.org/tucsonchalkart.html 
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NOTE TO MEDIA: Photos available upon request. 

About the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance
The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) is a not-for-profit organization that exists to ensure that, through engagement in arts and culture, our communities produce strong, inspired citizens. SAACA enlists artists, businesses, governments, and individuals to expand artistic and cultural opportunities in their respective communities. To enhance access to the arts and to promote cultural awareness in the communities it serves, SAACA presents large-scale festivals, events and other programs. The Alliance also promotes educational opportunities in the arts and culture for all ages. 

For more information about programs and events produced by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance, go to www.saaca.org