Rob Bliss, the Facebook and social networking guru who organized a massive pillow fight and a zombie walk in Grand Rapids last year, will soon be asking everyone to think concretely in his first urban experiment of the year.
Bliss plans to hand out 10,000 pieces of sidewalk chalk at Rosa Parks Circle on Saturday, April 18, to see what collective creative energy will bring to the core city. He hopes the Sidewalk Chalk Flood will bring the most age diverse crowd to downtown Grand Rapids of all his prior social experiments, such as the pillow fight that received national television coverage on CBS News last fall.
"The chalk flood is really meant to appeal to the child in us all," says Bliss, a sophomore at Grand Rapids Community College studying vocal and piano performance. "We hope everyone from experienced artists to families with kids will let their creative side come through that Saturday."
Chalk will be distributed free of charge from noon to 5 p.m., primarily funded by the Downtown Alliance, with support from the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts and Grand Rapids Community College. Artwork on public pavement only; anything on buildings is strictly verboten.
Fifty posters promoting the Sidewalk Chalk Flood have been distributed to downtown businesses this week. In case of rain, the Sidewalk Chalk Flood will be held the following Saturday. For more info, visit Bliss at his Facebook page or write to him here.
Source: Rob Bliss, Sidewalk Chalk Flood
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