Isolated neighbors stay connected through sidewalk chalk art

Sidewalk chalk art is popping up all over town, part of a national campaign to shine light in a season darkened by COVID-19.

“It’s meant to uplift and inspire people as they walk by,” said Lisa Zigante, who spent a recent Saturday with her teenaged daughter, Katie, chalking hearts and lotus flowers on the driveway of a wheelchair-bound neighbor.

“We enjoyed getting out of the house,” Zigante said, “and Katie felt good about doing something for someone else.”

“Chalk the Walk,” arrived in Sonoma last week, spearheaded locally by Lizz Earnest. The movement has sprouted in cities across the U.S. as a small, tangible way to help lighten the collective mood. Earnest, who lives in the Wildeflower neighborhood off Napa Road and is accustomed to the close, friendly contact that has long defined that sweat-equity development, said that she missed the daily exchanges common between neighbors and thought sending messages of encouragement through sidewalk art might serve as a stand-in.

“Finding a chalk rainbow outside of your house might help people realize that other people care,” Earnest said.

An artist friend gave Earnest a cache of sidewalk chalk, and she passed the supplies on to some friends.

Sheila Martin deployed hers on the bike path through town, sketching hearts underscored with the words “Hello, Love” underneath.

“When I walked on the bike path that morning I recognized the writing style,” said Lori Winter of Martin’s distinctive script. “It truly gave me a lift and reminded me why I love living in Sonoma Valley.”

The next morning, Winter found a box of sidewalk chalk outside her front door. “The game was on,” she told the Index-Tribune.

Winter and her daughter, Elsa, a junior at Sonoma Valley High School, got busy, sketching images and encouraging words onto their driveway and sidewalks. “My daughter and I had a blast making chalk art for our neighbors. It’s so simple to say ‘hi’ with chalk, and tell them to hang in there and that together we’ll get through this unprecedented time,” Winter said. “Our chalk art has helped us both cope by feeling more connected to our community.”

Weekend rain may have washed away the earliest versions of the “Chalk the Walk” street art, but the vanishing underscores the larger metaphor, in the end. In a time of great trial, small gestures matter. Each day is a blank slate on which each of us writes. The message may change, and it’s ours to control.

Contact Kate at kate.williams@sonomanews.com.