'Beautiful messages:' Hundreds share emotion through art during 'MKE Unite Chalk the Sidewalk' event

MILWAUKEE -- The street outside the Milwaukee Art Museum was filled with colorful messages Sunday, June 7, as the MKE Unite Chalk the Sidewalk event brought out hundreds of artists of all ages -- sharing emotion through art.

It was one of the few times art could be found outside the MAM.

"My favorite part is like, when I'm done with it, and I see it, it reminds me of like, when I went to the ocean," said an artist.

The artists were as diverse as the chalk bringing their messages to life.

"There's a lot of beautiful art out here, and a lot of beautiful messages," said Angela Green, artist. "We've been talking a lot about what has been going on with our children, and we wanted to take them somewhere where they could participate."

They offered a unified message that knows no age limit.

"There's a message that we want to get out, and that yes -- all lives matter, but black lives matter, and we want to make sure that we have the equality that we are supposedly offered in America," said Terril Johnson, artist. "Children don't always have a big enough voice as we do, but they have ways of expressing that voice, and this is one of the ways they can do that."

Even the youngest of artists left their feelings on the sidewalk.

"She wrote that they are people, too, and that alone, for a little child to write, is amazing," said Johnson.

Participants said they're hoping for more family-friendly events like this so people of all ages can participate in this global conversation.