Drawn together: Chalk It Up brings together artists of all abilities
Cora Tinkham crafts a colorful landscape at The Heart in the Arts third annual Chalk It Up Festival on Sunday, June 1. Photos by Ethan Hunt
Kat Giocaloni, middle, leads an impromptu dance off. 
Jake Tower stands next to his piece which features his characteristic swirling patterns. 
Jake Tower puts the finishing touches on his work. 
Evelyn Pascarella and Violet Morrison watch Jacob Pascarella go to work.
Bridget Cox, 10, and Mila McMaster, 1, work together together.
The artist of this Snoopy piece finished early. 
The children’s TV show classic Lilo and Stitch received a little love. 
Across from the parking lot on the Town Hall lawn, a few greyhounds made an appearance at the craft fair. 
Vendors selling a range of products set up tents in front of Town Hall for the sixth annual Spring Craft Fair.
Cora Tinkham crafts a colorful landscape at The Heart in the Arts third annual Chalk It Up Festival on Sunday, June 1. Photos by Ethan Hunt
Kat Giocaloni, middle, leads an impromptu dance off.
Jake Tower stands next to his piece which features his characteristic swirling patterns.
Jake Tower puts the finishing touches on his work.
Evelyn Pascarella and Violet Morrison watch Jacob Pascarella go to work.
Bridget Cox, 10, and Mila McMaster, 1, work together together.
The artist of this Snoopy piece finished early.
The children’s TV show classic Lilo and Stitch received a little love.
Across from the parking lot on the Town Hall lawn, a few greyhounds made an appearance at the craft fair.
Vendors selling a range of products set up tents in front of Town Hall for the sixth annual Spring Craft Fair.
The parking lot next to Town Hall in Middleboro was transformed into a giant canvas on Sunday as artists of all ages gathered for The Heart in the Art’s Chalk It Up Festival.
“We want to give people with disabilities an opportunity to be true artists,” said The Heart in the Art founder and director Melissa Oddi-Morrison. “It's also a community event for everybody to just come out and have some fun.”
“It’s not really a moneymaker,” she added with a laugh.
The nonprofit charged between $5 and $10 for a square in the parking lot, depending on the size. Proceeds will fund next year’s event and help cover the cost for children and adults with disabilities to attend the organization’s classes, which range from visual arts and music to yoga, healing, and more.
Jake Tower, one of several artists with disabilities showcasing their work on June 1, said his tremors vanish when he picks up a piece of chalk.
“When I do my art they don’t show,” he said.
Tower, 31, has been creating sidewalk art since 2017 and has built a following on YouTube and TikTok. His work features wavy geometric patterns and swirling lines that reveal different things depending on the viewer.
“This square is a hidden word,” Tower said, pointing to one section of his piece. “Most of the time I’ll tell people who look at my art, they’ll be hidden pictures or hidden objects, because I’m the artist I see certain stuff, but when people see my art they’ll see their own things.”
Tower first attended Chalk It Up last year, braving the rain to work on the parking lot canvas while most attendees moved inside.
“Most people are like ‘are you sad when it rains?’ but no, the rain helps. When you mix water with chalk it becomes neon, and the water and the chalk will brighten it up,” Tower said. “I’ll even go do it in the snow. I will come out and shovel a square and do my art in the snow. It’s just a way to get moving.”
Other artists drew everything from Snoopy and Lilo and Stitch to colorful landscapes and rainbows.
Across the street on the Town Hall lawn, several greyhounds and their owners weaved through the crowd as the sixth annual Spring Craft Fair hosted by Greyhound Pets of America took place. The fair featured vendors selling jewelry, art, crafts, gifts and more.
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