Tracy Keagle hopes to see downtown Iola transformed this week with loads of chalk, a spritz of hair spray and a healthy dose of imagination.
Keagle is one of the organizers of the inaugural Farm-City Days Chalk Art Contest, which takes place in the run-up to Saturday’s activities.
The contest is open to artists of all ages, young or old.
“We even have a pre-K section,” Keagle noted.
The only requirements are that participants register at the Farm-City Days offices set up in the old Classy Attic building at 15 E. Madison Ave.; and that they finish their artwork by Friday evening. (The original deadline of Thursday afternoon was pushed back to give more kids time to finish their artwork.)
Iola artist Steve Greenwall will judge the drawings, and will look at degree of difficulty, composition, design and aesthetics.
Prizes will be given in four age divisions, elementary school, middle school, high school and adult.
Keagle expects to see the sidewalks on all four sides of the square replete with color.
The committee has 250 marked squares, with all but 50 accounted for already. Among the participants are local art students, and youngsters enrolled in SAFE BASE, USD 257’s after-school program.
Even more spaces are available on top of those 250, Keagle noted. “We still have the entire inside of the square.”
There is plenty of chalk at the Farm-City Days office. “We just ask they bring back whatever chalk they don’t use,” Keagle said.
Keagle is recommending participants spray their creations with hairspray in order to preserve the chalk until Saturday. Keagle suggests brands such as Final Net or White Rain, “the kind your grandma would wear. We just need everybody to register, so we know who’s in the contest.”
THE CELEBRATION hits high gear Thursday evening, with activities running non-stop through Sunday afternoon.
Activities include the old standards — the car show, parade, carnival and free music concerts — along with a bevy of new events, from a Lego building contest, “Kidsapalooza” games and a free movie on the lawn.
Farm-City Days buttons, which sell for $2 apiece, are still available at committee headquarters, and for the time being, at Jump-Start Travel Center. Possessing a button enters participants in a series of prize drawings, from Kansas City Chiefs tickets to an Apple Watch and other electronic gizmos.
