As I parked my car, it was a beautiful summer day for the Cleveland Museum of Art 36th Annual Chalk Festival on Sunday, September 21, 2025. Less than ten minutes later, it started raining, but fortunately, it was a short cloudburst. The rain only returned on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Despite the fact that I missed seeing the pre-rain chalk drawings by just a few minutes, I still found the artwork most enjoyable, along with the festive environment of the Fine Arts Garden.
“Soft Focus”
I heard a fellow attendee of the event state that the brief rainfall brought a “soft focus” to the chalk artwork! That was an astute observation.
Here are my 118 photos from the day:
I recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to look closer at the artwork in the slides!!
Emanuel Wallace's Photos From CMA’s 2025 Chalk Festival
As I arrived after the initial rain, I heard someone call my name. It was Emanuel Wallace, who was at the museum to take photos for Cleveland Scene Magazine. Like me, he had just arrived after the initial rainfall. Despite the rain, he captured the fun atmosphere and artistic creativity in his photography.
See his 60 photos from the day:
Photos From CMA’s 2025 Chalk Festival
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Chalk Festival is one of the last outdoor events of the summer.
September 22, 2025 by Emanuel Wallace - Cleveland Scene
Note: Clicking on an individual photo opens up a slideshow of all the photos.
When you look at Emanuel Wallace's slideshow, you will see that he captured a photo on me (in blue shirt) taking a video of the live music at the event. He also photographed on action shot of Sylvia Munodawafa (who I mention below) touching up her chalk artwork after the rain.
Music to Chase the Rain Away!!
There was live music at the Chalk Festival. Soon after I arrived, the singers sang about the fun of chalking again after the rain:
I recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
University Circle Artist-In-Residence Sylvia Munodawafa
When I reached the lower level of the Chalk Festival, near the lagoon, I said to myself that I recognized the style of artwork in one of the drawings there. It reminded me of the artwork I featured in a blog post I had written in March 2025. When I looked at the signage above the artwork, I confirmed that it was created by University Circle Artist-In-Residence Sylvia Munodawafa. Learn more about her work and the new University Circle Community Room in my blog post:
Blog Date: March 19, 2025 - Artist-In-Residence Sylvia Munodawafa - University Circle New Community Room - Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel
I first met Sylvia Munodawafa at a Cleveland Institute of Art event last fall, but I had not seen her in person since then. Near the end of the Chalk Festival, I was fortunate to be able to talk to Sylvia Munodawafa as I joined her and Emanuel Wallace. The three of us talked about her work as the first University Circle Artist-In-Residence.
See the University Circle Inc. Community Room web page for information about free "Mask Making Classes with Sylvia: Unleash your Creativity," and other classes offered in the new community room. The following is Sylvia Munodawafa's bio from University Circle's website:
Related Blog Posts
I always like to include in my blog posts a list of related posts that may be of interest to my readers:
Blog Date: March 19, 2025 - Artist-In-Residence Sylvia Munodawafa - University Circle New Community Room - Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel
Please take some time to see artwork from the past thirteen Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festivals by reading my blog posts:
Blog Date: September 22, 2024 - 35th Annual Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival
Blog Date: September 24, 2023 - 34th Annual Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival
Blog Date: September 25, 2022 - Glad to be Back in 2022: Cleveland Museum of Art's 33rd Annual Chalk Festival!
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Blog Date: September 18, 2021 - Enjoying Remotely in 2021: The 32nd Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival
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Blog Date: September 15, 2020 - #CMAChalkFestival Social Distancing Style: Cleveland Museum of Art's Virtual Chalk Festival 2020
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Blog Date: September 21, 2019 - 30th Year! Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival 2019
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Blog Date: September 25, 2018 - 2018 Photos: Cleveland Museum of Art's 29th Annual Chalk Festival
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Blog Date: September 26, 2017 - Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival 2017
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Blog Date: October 3, 2016 - A Weekend of Community Art, Including the 2016 Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival
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Blog Date: October 19, 2015 - Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival 2015 - A Day of Art & Sharing
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Blog Date: September 16, 2014 - Chalk Festival 2014 - Cleveland Museum of Art
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Blog Date: September 23, 2013 - 2013 Chalk Festival Photos
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Blog Date: September 20, 2012 - Cleveland Chalk Festival
See more by reading my 62 "Cleveland Museum of Art" blog posts, or 81 "University Circle" blog posts.
At last count, there are 102 other blog posts tagged "Art!"
For this, my fourteenth Chalk Festival blog post, I want to thank all the creative people who participated. The chalk art created at the Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival every year is outstanding!
Thank you for reading my blog post. You can learn about my travel journeys with my wife and co-blogger, Julie, and the venues we explore in Cleveland and Akron at: sosAssociates.com/Blog