By James H. Pence

If you had asked me about twenty years ago to give you my thoughts about the future of chalk art (chalk talk), I would have told you that it was a dying art. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what I told people back in the mid to late 1980s. And I wasn’t the only one saying it.

Back then, the only way someone could get started in chalk art was by knowing another chalk artist. After all, it wasn’t possible to go into art supply stores and purchase the chalk and paper. To this day, brick and mortar art stores don’t sell lecturer’s chalk or bogus paper. Not only do they not sell it, they don’t even know what it is. Also, back in the eighties it was very difficult to find suitable black lights. They were available, but also were usually expensive and had to be specially ordered.

To make matters worse, the big manufacturing companies were setting aside the lecturer’s chalk and bogus paper business in favor of more profitable endeavors.

Another problem is that back then there were very few ways to learn how to be a chalk artist. There were a handful of people teaching chalk art, but you either needed to live near where a class was being held or have enough money to pay for your travel as well as the class. I drew for seven years before I was finally able to attend Ding Teuling’s chalk art workshop.

So back in the ‘80s, things looked pretty grim. Supplies were difficult to find and so were But beginning in the early ‘90s, things changed dramatically. Today, chalk art is not only surviving as an art and communication form, it is thriving.

What caused the change?

First, the Internet came on the scene, making it possible for chalk artists to communicate, network, and find supplies. For the first time, someone who was interested in becoming a chalk artist could find the supplies and materials they needed, just by going to a search engine.

Second, home video, DVDs, etc., made it possible for chalk artists to produce teaching materials to help new artists come along. Now you can learn at least the basics of chalk art in the comfort of your own home, with a minimum of expense.

In other words, and somewhat ironically, technology has breathed new life into a rather old art form.

But technology has not only affected the art form, it has affected the audience.

Today we live in a world dominated by pictures and sound. The next time you’re in a public place, look around you and take note of how many people are “plugged in”, carrying iPads, iPhones, and a host of other devices. People today respond to media, to things visual and auditory.

That means that chalk art is a perfect form of communication for today’s world, because it reaches people with both pictures and sound.

I remember hearing Pat Holt, the founder of See the Light say that chalk art is so old, it’s new.

That’s spot on.

And as I look at a generation of young people who are less and less responsive to traditional means for communicating the gospel, I can’t help but wonder if chalk art came along for such a time as this.