Sadye Davenport’s Woodland Hills Sidewalk Chalk Project based on a mission of spreading messages of kindness and inspiration.
What began as a simple activity of playing with chalk as a fun after-school project with her son in February 2012 has taken Susan Melton, creator of the Sidewalk Chalk Project, to a place where it’s all about spreading messages of kindness and inspiration. Through bright, colorful chalk messages scrawled on neighborhood sidewalks, Melton’s Chalk Project hopes to reach the right people at the right time…by the person “needing to see them the most” through warming one’s heart, provoking thought or encouraging a “shift of awareness.” First becoming smitten with the Sidewalk Chalk Project on Facebook, Sadye Davenport, a lover of art, was immediately intrigued by how much this approach made a difference in various communities, touching the lives of other by creating countless smiles and moments made from a colorful, uplifting picture in chalk. Now, she plans on spreading inspirational chalk messages to inspire smiles on faces in the Woodland Hills neighborhood through the Woodland Hills Sidewalk Chalk Project.
“Through Susan Melton’s creativity and ambition, I hope to inspire others by starting to chalk positive messages on the sidewalks of the Woodland Hills community,” says Davenport. “The message of spreading more love and happiness into this world of ours – something I think we all desperately need what with all the horrific global events taking place as of late – is where I want to put my energy. Through viewing these works of chalk art, it made me a believer that I could make a difference…that this could be the change I want to see in the world. Indeed, we can always use more love and smiles in our lives.”
The Sidewalk Chalk Project’s official mission is “to create uplifting messages of kindness with chalk on neighborhood sidewalks, with the hopes that these anonymous messages will collide with the person that needs it most.” Advocates of the project have been chalking on sidewalks since February of 2012, with more “chalk ambassadors” coming on board every day and contributing to spreading this message on a global scale.
“Our dream is to have people from all over the world chalking positive messages in their local neighborhoods,” addsSidewalk Chalk Project creator Susan Melton. “Whether it be on a city sidewalk or at the end of a driveway, the more messages we can collectively put out into the world, the more we can change it. As we like to say in our joy-inspiring rhetoric, ‘Let’s chalk the love all over this world!’”
With regard to how Davenport sees her own Chalk Project in Woodland Hills evolving over time, her hope is that all this “chalking” inspires others. “I hope to keep making a difference, one chalk at a time, inspiring others to keep spreading smiles by paying it forward with random acts of kindness,” she says. “I often like to quote Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes who once said, ‘You have no idea what the smallest word or the tiniest generosity can cause to be set in motion…so mend the parts of the world that are within your reach.’”
Sadye stopped by our office and chalk bombed us!
Davenport says that chalk pieces, on average, can take anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to complete, depending on detail, size and how “chalk crazy” she gets. Her kids have chalked with her, with her daughter in particular enjoying co-creating pieces, and many of her friends have taken to the art of chalking on sidewalks since she began.
“I truly find inspiration in all facets of art,” concludes Davenport. “I can tell you that the ‘rabbit hole of art’ is an infinite one. But in looking to other artists to excite and inspire me – in addition to mother nature providing one of the best sources of inspiration – I have come to appreciate and love color in a way I never dreamed possible. I hope to pass along some of these traits and sentiments as the Woodland Hills Chalk Project comes into its own.”
More information about the Sidewalk Chalk Project can be obtained by visiting www.ChalkProject.org. Sadye Davenport’s Woodland Hills Chalk Project Instagram page is located at https://www.instagram.com/ladysadye/ and her Facebook page is located at https://www.facebook.com/WHsidewalkchalkproject.
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