rik Greenawalt’s passion for outdoor chalk art
had humble beginnings: in the driveway of his
North Huntingdon home.
Greenawalt, known in the area and beyond as
“The Chalking Dad,” began his flourishing career as a chalk
artist when his daughters, just toddlers at the time, asked
him to draw portraits of Disney princesses and characters
while they doodled alongside him.
Those early but elaborate drawings sparked a creative
drive in Greenawalt that has continued for more than 10
years. Today, Greenawalt, 40, participates in some of the
most renowned chalk art festivals in the country and has
won widespread recognition for his work—not bad for
an artist who took his last formal art class when he was a
freshman in high school.
“I have to thank my daughters. They’re the ones who got
me into it,” says Greenawalt, who works as a senior director
of financial planning for Giant Eagle. “My neighbors began
to call me ‘the dad who chalks.’” This eventually evolved into
being known as ‘The Chalking Dad.’”
Over the past several years, he has drawn portraits of
various athletes, celebrities and characters, including Mario
Lemieux, Prince, Jerome Bettis, Roberto Clemente, Walt
Disney, Harry Potter and Disney characters like Moana.
In August, Greenawalt drew a portrait of Steelers rookie
running back James Conner, an Erie native, at the Celebrate
Erie festival. The drawing earned him first place at the
festival’s “Chalk Walk.”
Each drawing takes him between six and 16 hours over
the course of one to two days. The 7’ x 20’ Conner portrait,
for example, took him 14 hours to complete.
Several local events, including Norwin’s annual Race
for Grace and Relay For Life, stand out for Greenawalt.
He draws the Race for Grace logo each year and has
contributed artwork at the Relay For Life for the past three
years.
“This year at the Relay was particularly special and
meaningful, because I drew a tribute to little Andrew
O’Neil at the event,” he says. O’Neil, a Norwin student,
passed away on Dec. 12 at the age of 5 after battling cancer.
Greenawalt has also participated in chalk festivals in
New York, Georgia, Ohio, Florida and Minnesota, among
others. Florida’s Lake Worth Street Painting Festival,
which he joined last year, draws nearly 100,000 spectators
and is considered one of the world’s largest street art
festivals. There he worked with another artist to create a
10’ x 20’ mural featuring the cast of “The Golden Girls.”
While Greenawalt initially started drawing with
standard Crayola sidewalk chalk, today he works with soft
pastels, which are a different form of chalk. Of course,
when artists are working outdoors with a temporary
medium, they’re at the mercy of the weather. The last
couple of years, Greenawalt recalls, the weather has been
on his side, allowing him to complete his drawings without
the threat of rain. He doesn’t mind the temporary aspect of
his artwork, however.
“If it didn’t rain, I wouldn’t have job security,” he notes
with a laugh. “And, if I mess up, it washes away.”
In fact, he enjoys street art more than working on
traditional mediums like canvas, which he considers
“prohibitive.”
“To me, chalk art is like being able to draw large, legal
graffiti,” he says. “It’s addictive and fun.”
You can find photos of Greenawalt’s artwork on
Instagram and on Facebook as @thechalkingdad. n
Greenawalt’s
daughters,
Jaycie, 14, and
Jenna, 11.
Norwin | Winter 2017 | icmags.com 9