In a city where streets form up to 35 percent of the public space (compared to Toronto’s 27.4 percent), Ottawa artists and city councilor Clive Doucet are encouraging hopscotchers to reclaim the urban landscape. Earlier in May, local residents condemned city crews for having power washed a children’s hopscotch game off the sidewalk in the Glebe neighbourhood.
The artists have [subsequently] chalked drawings, poems and numbered squares labelled “random act of hopscotch” on sidewalks across the city.
One group calling itself the Ottawa Community Chalk Network covered four city blocks in one night with slogans and doodles that led right to the front door of City Hall.
While seemingly trivial, advocates are hoping that their “local acts of hopscotch†will generate discussion at the May 23 city council meeting about who should be allowed to use city streets.
The full article is available from CBC News.
photo by Himy Syed
One comment
Good article! I just saw that cool hopscotch painting on Sunday at Regal Rd public school (Davenport and Oakwood). They have a bunch of fantastic art like this on the pavement, including a giant map of Canada and the solar system.