Downtown Chehalis Youth Art Walk happening third week in March

Young artists from ages 14 to 18 throughout Lewis County have been invited to participate in the inaugural Downtown Chehalis Youth Art Walk, scheduled to run from March 14 through March 21, according to a Dandelion Creative Space news release.

Dandelion has partnered with Experience Chehalis to organize and run the art walk where 20 young artists will be chosen from submissions to have their work displayed at various downtown Chehalis businesses for the art walk.

“It is free for kids to participate and the program is designed for them to share their artwork, receive county wide recognition, and build community among other artists their age,” Dandelion Executive Director Jennifer Kinsman said in the release. “If this program is well received, I would like to develop a similar program for elementary kids in Lewis County too.”

Additionally, cash prizes will be available for the top five artists, with first place getting $100, second $75, third $50 and two honorable mentions getting $25 each, along with an additional $100 for the people’s choice winner. Prize money comes from a James August Smith Charitable Performing Arts Trust grant, the release added.

The deadline to submit art for consideration is Feb. 23, and submissions can be made on Experience Chehalis’ website at https://experiencechehalis.com/youthartwalk/. 

Both traditional and non-traditional media art can be submitted, ranging from painting and photography to sculpting and print making, and even digital art.

Artists whose work is selected for the Downtown Chehalis Youth Art Walk will be notified by March 4.

Downtown Chehalis businesses where the art will be displayed include Gifted Hallmark Boutique, Book ‘n’ Brush, Bigfoot Treasure, Mint City Coffeehouse, Stout Coffeehouse and Shona’s Food Company.

An open house and artists reception will be held at Mint City Coffeehouse on March 14 at 1 p.m. to kick off the Downtown Chehalis Youth Art Walk.

For more information including art submission guidelines, visit https://tinyurl.com/yh6amphc or email Kinsman at info@dandelioncreativespace.org.