CANTON -- In partnership with SLC Arts, TAUNY is participating in #AsyncArts with a community chalk art mural project created by local artist contributors this July on the sidewalk outside The TAUNY Center in Canton.

Anyone is welcome to contribute drawings or words to the mural, which has a “Summer Traditions” theme, through July 31.

The #AsyncArts program creates art experiences the community can view and be a part of while maintaining social distance, rather than coming together in the usual gallery/museum setting. This #AsyncArts Chalk Mural will be created on the front sidewalk at The TAUNY Center, and the theme is “Summer Traditions.”

All creative contributions reflecting on summer traditions are welcome. If you would like to add to the mural by chalking images or words of your own on this theme, or adding a sidewalk barn quilt square, stop by any time and use the chalk provided (or bring your own). You are also invited to share a summer tradition in writing, whether an explanation of your chalk contribution or a story of its own, on one of the note cards provided with the chalk.

“We’re delighted to take part in SLC Arts’ #AsyncArts initiative with this community chalk art project,” says TAUNY’s Director of Research and Programs Camilla Ammirati, “both to learn about and celebrate contributors’ personal, family, and community traditions, and as a way to bring people together at this time.”

St. Lawrence County Arts Council Executive Director Maggie McKenna notes, "We've always thought the arts are important to our everyday lives, but this pandemic has made this even more abundantly clear. We created #AsyncArts with some local arts advocates to give people access to local art from home and in their neighborhoods. We look forward to growing this public art program across our region even post-COVID."

"The larger #AsyncArts project is offering lots of ways for community members to connect with each other through outdoor art," said one of the project's founders, Jeanna Neefe Matthews, who is both a local artist and a professor at Clarkson University. "Quarantine has made it harder for us to connect with the community around us. #AsyncArts is about finding ways to share the art and beauty in your own life and feel the support of others around you appreciating what you have done and sharing their own art and beauty too."

Learn more about the TAUNY Community Chalk Art Mural and other upcoming programs and projects at tauny.org or the SLC Arts website.