Chalkalypse
The Chalkalypse is an annual chalk art competition for regional junior high and high school students hosted on the SIU campus by the Art Education Nation, the registered student organization for SIU ArtED.
This event was conceived by area art teachers: Jeremy Crawford, of Cobden HS, and Bruce Breeden, of Carterville HS, in conjunction with the Art Education Nation. 2023 was the inaugural year for this event on the SIU campus, but the planning for this event began in 2020. The pandemic, however, interrupted the original plan for a campus event. The following year, a virtual chalk art competition was launched and planning to revive the in-person and on-campus event began again. In 2022, the Chalkalypse was born and by spring of 2023, 350+ students converged on the SIU campus to create sidewalk art!
In 2024, 400+ students participated in the chalk art competition as interest in the event has grown. Students were asked to create artwork which explored eclipse-related imagery in honor of the solar eclipse. For this event the competition, the Chalkalypse was branded: The CHALK-ECLIPSE! For the 2025 competition, the theme is water-related, and the competition has morphed into AQUALYPSE: The Chalkalypse Submerged.
If you are an interested junior high or high school art program, you may register for the competition here. If not, you are invited to come watch the creation of some wonderful large-scale artworks on the sidewalk in Faner Mall on Friday, April 4th. Students will be working on art from 9am until 12pm. The artwork will remain in place as long as the weather cooperates. The viewing is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there.
Questions? Email jody.paulson@siu.edu.
