A northern Michigan woman recently hit a major milestone....and she's "chalking it up" to her passion for spreading mental health wellness. WCMU's Tina Sawyer sat down with WCMU Public Television's Jamie Mankiewicz to talk about about Susan The Chalk Lady, which airs on this week's Destination Michigan.
The conversation starts with Jamie answering the question if Susan will continue chalking beyond her milestone:
Jamie Mankiewicz: Yeah, she she's been chalking every day since, and all this chalk talk it's popping up on my algorithm a whole lot more, but I'm happy to see it every. Day, you know.
Tina Sawyer: What does she draw on this chalk art?
JM: She does a lot of like messages of hope, you know, just like simple things like keep going and she'll do these little drawings of, like, gnomes that are holding a sign. And it's like, you can do this or have. A great day. They're just like smile or really simple messages, but they're definitely leaving an impact on the community.
TS: MHM. Did anyone ever join her in making some of the sidewalk?
JM: So she's had people that she said, would, you know, she'll be out in a park doing something and like, kids will stop by the day that she had her five thousandth chalking experience. She had brought a whole bunch of chalk, and there were people there that were doing some little drawings and stuff. She said. She said sometimes there have been occasions where people will come running up to her. They think that she's hurt.
TS: And she's on the ground.
JM: She's on the ground, but then they just say that she's making some art.
TS: So how did she choose the cities that she visited to do the art? Jamie Mankiewicz Like she lived in Cheboygan, has ties all around northern Michigan. She has chalked as far away as Las Vegas. So you know, just kind of like, OK, I'm visiting this place today. Let's do Some chalk.
TS: Wow. How did she do this every day, like with it raining and snowing and or she's sick?
JM: That's she, she said. This is just my mission to keep going. Just keep going.
TS: Yeah, she put like, a tent over her so she doesnt get wet or no?
JM: She just finds some really creative ways to. You find the little piece of sidewalk. Sometimes it's, you know, underneath an awning or underneath the pavilion. But she had told me that she's gotten creative before with towels and like a hair dryer or something like that.
TS: If You can find an outlet right?
JM: Right. Yeah.
TS: but you'll find the full story coming up on destination Michigan. What's next for you on destination Michigan?
JM: Two words... baby goats. That's all I'm going to give you.]
TAG: That was Destination Michigan's newest team member, Jamie Mankiewicz talking with WCMU's Tina Sawyer. You can see the Chalk Lady story on Destination Michigan this Thursday night [ March 27] at 9pm on WCMU Public Television.
