Saturday morning the Redondo Pier was covered with empty squares outlined in pink, waiting to be filled. By mid morning most of the empty plots were packed with colorful artwork and chalk covered children for the 10th annual Redondo Beach Chalk Art Festival.
Nine-year-old Amanda Kindt pointed to a large colored square surrounded by chalk dust, pastel crayons and five children ranging from ages 8 to 12 and explained their artwork.
[scrollGallery id = 463]“It’s called ‘The Mystery Under the Pier,’” said Kindt. “You can see what’s up here, but down there you just don’t know.”
The group of kids argued about the title of the masterpiece while another pointed to specific elements of the chalk artwork.
“That’s a mermaid cooking a fish over an underwater volcano,” 8-year-old Stacey Tompkins said. “And that’s a skeleton.”
The group, led by Stacey Kindt, with Tompkins, Amanda, Julian Harger, 12, Seren Kindt, 13, and Crystal Christiansen, 11, had been working on the chalk art since around noon. They were sweaty but almost finished around 1 p.m.
“My kids and the kids visiting for the summer were just looking for some fun, free things to do,” said Stacey Kindt.
Because it was their first year at the event, they forgot one important thing – towels to clean their hands. Each person’s hands, from the tips of their fingers past their palms, were covered with chalky colors. They were sweaty and dirty but, as Kindt pointed out, happy.
List of winners-
4 and under: Alessi Hadidian, Chatsworth
5 – 8: Zachary Keher, Redondo Beach
9 – 13: Cynthia Helm, Norwalk
14 – 17: Hannah Harkins, Torrance
18+: Talal Majdah, Wilmington
Pro: William Zin, Long Beach
Family: Kindt Family,Torrance
Team: Hartel Team, Reseda
