---
title: ‘Chalk’ it Up to Safety at Campus Crosswalks
date: 2023-10-09T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/chalk-it-up-to-safety-at-campus-crosswalks"
section: Articles
---
# ‘Chalk’ it Up to Safety at Campus Crosswalks

*October 9, 2023* — by [Maggie Haslam](/author/maggie-haslam)


> Students Paint Temporary Murals to Celebrate Art While Slowing Down Drivers, Riders

*Chalkthe Walk 10082023 RS 8531 1920x1080 — Rafael Rodriguez '25 (front left), a studio art major from Hyattsville, Md., applies orange temporary paint to the ground during the Chalk the Walk event at Tawes Plaza on Sunday. The event is designed to calm traffic and enliven campus.*

The buzz around Tawes Plaza on Monday morning isn’t the sound of students’ cellphones or whizzing electric scooters, it’s what’s underfoot: a vibrant mural of bees floating between black-eyed Susans and sunflowers.

The Insta-worthy asphalt art is one of seven crosswalk murals created Sunday at [Chalk the Walk](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/eb70bf436f9e4acd86a9fcd4e97ab53f), the University of Maryland’s first community “paint-in” festival sponsored by the Department of Transportation Services (DOTS), aimed at enlivening campus while calming oncoming traffic.

Led by art and architecture students in UMD’s [creative placemaking minor](https://art.umd.edu/academic-programs/creative-placemaking-minor), the project temporarily transformed a high-traffic area of campus to test the impact of ground murals on pedestrian safety; it’s part of the university’s [Arts for All](https://arts.umd.edu/)initiative, an experiential curriculum that partners the arts with other disciplines to nurture different ways of thinking to spark dialogue, understanding problem-solving and action.

“The ultimate goal for DOTS is to influence travelers to slow down and look up,” said Marta Woldu, assistant director of sustainability for DOTS. “The streetscape is activated with the creative work that these students are doing; the roadway becomes more people-oriented, not just a space for transporting vehicles.”

DOTS, Professor Ronit Eisenbach, and painter and art lecturer Benjamin Edwards mobilized 16 undergraduate students to create and execute whimsical mural designs, colorful enough to catch a driver or rider’s eye, while also adding something meaningful to campus; the fact that the event was held the day before Indigenous Peoples Day informed many of the concepts.

Students from Eisenbach’s “Introduction to Creative Placemaking” course observed the plaza in September to note how many pedestrians, cars, bikes and scooters travel through the area. With the murals in place, the students will return this week to observe whether they change how people and vehicles engage with the space, such as reducing vehicle speeds or jaywalking. These temporary placemaking tactics, said Eisenbach, are a great way to test an intervention before making it permanent.

“What I love about this project is it’s not just beautifying a space, it’s also addressing a particular need and solving a problem through community participation, art, design and delight,” said Eisenbach, who directs the minor. “When people return, and see this amazing transformation, it’s going to be magical.”



*a person's hand is shown painting a sunflower on the street — Naya Doyle '26, an architecture major from Manassas, Va., paints the center of a sunflower as part of the Chalk the Walk art installation*



*overview from a high vantage of many studients painting three crosswalks near Cole Field House*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Architecture](https://today.umd.edu/topic/architecture), [Studio Art](https://today.umd.edu/topic/studio-art), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities), [Department of Transportation Services](https://today.umd.edu/topic/department-transportation-services), [School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-architecture-planning-and-preservation)