((PKG)) CHALK ART ((TRT: 03:16)) ((Banner: Chalk Art)) ((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry)) ((Camera: Mike Burke)) ((Video Editor: Lisa Vohra)) ((Map: Reston, Virginia)) ((Main characters: 1 female)) ((Sub characters: 2 female)) ((NATS)) ((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader)) I'm Olivia Snyder and I am 12 years old. ((NATS)) ((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader)) My mom draws the sketch with the plan and then we tape out how we want it to look. ((NATS)) ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) For today's project on our turtle, we took a style that I found online, which is from stain, like a fake stained art but with chalk where you tape out what you want to paint and then it gives you nice, clean, crisp lines. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Olivia Snyder, Rising 7th grader)) And then we like to color it in and make it look nice. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) We wanted to do something with the manhole to make it prettier and make our neighborhood look nicer and bring a smile to people's faces. ((NATS)) ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) I first heard about the Stay-At-Home Chalk Art Festival by a neighbor who posted it on our HOA Facebook page. ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) But I actually didn't have any chalk, so I sort of dismissed it. Just by coincidence a neighbor had, was cleaning out her house and found a bunch of extra chalk and asked if we would like it. ((NATS)) ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) She was so generous to offer us the chalk. So, we were grateful for that. Because it started right when the lockdown was pretty serious and, you know, we didn't go anywhere. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) Every week the Stay-At-Home Chalk Fest had a different theme. So, a week ahead, we were looking to ideas about what we would like to do. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston)) Ellen Chow and her daughter submitted drawings every week. ((Stills Courtesy - Ellen Chow)) ((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston)) And they were very creative and had quite a range of drawings. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Stills Courtesy - Public Art Reston)) ((Anne Delaney, Executive Director, Public Art Reston)) So, we receive drawings that really range from kids or, you know, parents and kids teaming up to create drawings, as well as professional artists who also submitted stunning drawings. We had participants also from California and from Mexico, in addition to artists from this area. So, you know, it really was an event that was, went beyond, you know, the territory of Reston. ((NATS: Ellen Chow)) A happy turtle. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Chow, Mother)) As you can guess, my daughter is 12 and really into her video games like most girls her age. And so, this is a nice, the chalk art was a nice break from the video games or screen time. And I did like collaborating with her and everything from starting to research and brainstorming ideas, all the way to the finished product. We had a lot of positive response from friends, one even saying that they saw something and said, “Thank you. I really needed that today.” So, that made us really happy that we can spread some joy during this time. ((NATS/MUSIC))