10/21/2026
What is performance chalk art?
It’s a powerful way to tell a story through art, music, and black-light effects.
Accompanied by a musical soundtrack, James Pence uses lecturers chalk to draw a 4’x3’ picture in fifteen minutes. At the conclusion of the drawing, he turns on a black light, revealing a previously drawn invisible picture that ties everything together and brings the drawing to a stunning conclusion. Once you see a chalk-art performance, you won’t soon forget the medium or the message.
James took up performance chalk art in 1978 after watching a chalk artist at a summer camp where he was a counselor. He had just started working as a youth pastor and immediately saw how effective chalk art could be for communicating to his youth. But James quickly discovered that chalk art appeals to all age groups, not just children. Since then, James has drawn coast to coast, in venues as large as the Anaheim Convention Center and as small as someone’s living room. For nearly 20 years, James took his chalk art regularly into the Texas prison system.
James is a singer, a multi-published author, and an actor. He recently portrayed Frank Gilbreth (“Dad”) in Cheaper by the Dozen and Russell Tinsworthy in Greenville Theatre Works production of 9 to 5: The Musical.
You can learn more about James at his website: JamesPence.com
