Sidewalk chalk art brings sense of connection to those sheltering in place in San Mateo

Jordan impressed passersby with a driveway sized chalk drawing featuring flying pigs and a bright green monster named Sluggo, created by and frequently appearing in the artwork of artist David Zinn. 

“I’ve always been fascinated by sidewalk chalk art murals like the 3D one’s you see online. They have always inspired me. I paint and draw but never to that scale until I saw the recent work by David Zinn. Looking at it I figured I could do something like it and gave it a try,” said Jordan. 

Additions to Jordan’s piece were made, including a butterfly and heart, to pay homage to Jordan’s grandmother, and his wife, Dana’s mother who both recently died. Jordan said he put a lot of love into creating a large yellow flower included to complement the butterfly. But the hardest portion to complete was a 3D heart cracked down the middle, revealing a blue sky.  

The project was initially intended to cover a smaller portion of the driveway closest to the sidewalk but “just kept growing,” eventually taking over 24 hours to complete. Having practiced other forms of art such as painting and drawing, Jordan said he never expected chalk to be so difficult to work with.

“Chalk is a strange medium because it doesn’t blend. I learned you should wear gloves blending with fingertips. I thought I’d be fine but when I woke up the next morning I noticed mine were really worked because you have to do so much smudging,” said Jordan. 

Jordan said the artwork has opened up connections to hundreds of people including neighbors and others venturing to the San Francisco Bay Trail along Monte Diablo Avenue in the North Shoreview neighborhood.

“We used to say ‘hi’ casually but this made people stop and talk. That’s something that was new and not intentional. And conversations would branch off to things not coronavirus related like what people were doing at home to keep them occupied and happy. Really, we started to get to know the neighborhood we live in and meeting people from pretty far away,” said Jordan. 

Chalk messages have begun popping up all over the county as a common medium for community members to connect with neighbors. One San Bruno resident said she was happy to stumble upon multiple pastel messages while taking a walk through a park near her home. 

“I was on a walk with my dog on a route we take every afternoon and as I was approaching I saw this beautiful artwork,” said Marsha Wray, a resident of San Bruno for 22 years. “Somebody spent a lot of time here and it was meant to bring joy. It gave me a feeling we’re all in this together.” 

She was alerted through email that others were discussing similar artwork on the app Nextdoor decided to share her photos under a post made by Terry Parks, a 75-year-old San Bruno resident. Parks had snapped and shared a photo of a bright rainbow drawn in his neighbor’s driveway across the street. 

“Opening my living room curtains and seeing this put a smile on my face, lifted both my wife and my spirits, and made me curious about how many others were inspired to do a chalk art drawing,” said Parks.

For the Jordans, the best part has been seeing the reactions from anyone who passes by and they both said they hope more people are inspired to create artworks of their own. 

“The cutest connection was from a kid who said it was totally amazing and it inspired her to do it herself,” said Dana Jordan. “I think obviously we were all in panic freak-out mode. For Dave and everybody, having a creative outlet helps. It’s a great way to have this thing that seems impossible to do and have it come out so amazing.”