Chalk Artists Want RUSD Students to Feel 'Brave About Trying' at Downtown Chalk Day

About 200 Riverside Unified School District middle and high school students will take over the Main Street pedestrian mall Tuesday, March 3, turning the downtown corridor into an open-air chalk art gallery from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This year's theme is "Dreams" — and for professional chalk artist Gloria Ing, that word carries a double meaning. "I'm thinking about dreams as both imagination and possibility: the colorful, playful images we see in our sleep, but also the hopes we carry for our future," she said. Her piece will lean into whimsical, uplifting visuals designed to feel open-ended. "I want the piece to feel like stepping into a dream that's still being written."

Fellow artist Graciela Rodriguez is taking a decidedly local angle, drawing the Raincross — Riverside's iconic symbol — as her subject. "It's just always felt dreamy to me," she said.

Both artists said they hope the day shifts how students think about making art. For Ing, that means giving students permission to be imperfect. "Making art in public shows that the process doesn't have to be perfect to be meaningful. I want them to feel brave about trying, comfortable making mistakes, and proud of their unique ideas. If they leave believing their imagination has value and that their voice can live boldly in shared spaces, that's the biggest win."

Rodriguez echoed that sentiment. "Sometimes people think you have to have everything figured out before you can create something, but working in a public space shows that it's messy and experimental for everyone, even people who do this professionally. I want students to walk away feeling like they can just create something without overthinking it."

For Rodriguez, who calls it her first chalk event of the year, the communal energy of the day is part of the draw. "There's a community vibe that you don't really get anywhere else. And I love seeing how other people interpret the same theme — everyone always surprises me."

Ing and Rodriguez will work alongside students as part of the Riverside Unified Arts Department's annual Chalk Day, presented in collaboration with the City of Riverside and UCR ARTS. The stretch of Main Street between 10th Street and University Avenue, near City Hall, will serve as the canvas.

The completed chalk pieces will be most visible toward the end of the day. The best window for viewing — and photos — is between noon and 2 p.m.

Chalk Day is part of a broader arts calendar at Riverside Unified, which hosted 560 events across 92 arts programs during the 2024-25 school year. The district will follow up with a month-long Elementary Chalk Festival running April 1–30, during which younger students will create chalk art at their school sites and share their work through a districtwide virtual showcase.