Dozens of children and a few quirky adults paint the pier with dazzling chalk designs in mid-August each year at the Redondo Beach Chalk Art Festival.
Last year, nine-year-old Amanda Kindt painted the pier with her family. Along with her family, she was busy painting a large colored square that was surrounded by chalk dust, pastel crayons and five children ranging from ages 8 to 12.
“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.”
While painting, 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.
The 11th Annual Chalk Art Festival will be held on August 17 on the Redondo Beach Pier.
Visit http://www.redondopier.com/ for additional summer events.
