Southwest Airlines Sponsors Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Square

Artists Work Their Magic at Denver International Airport in Anticipation of Weekend Festival

News provided by

Jun 03, 2010, 12:33 ET

DENVER, June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines is proud to be the Official Airline of the Eighth Annual Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Square this weekend, June 5 and 6. As part of the sponsorship, a dozen artists gathered at Denver International Airport (DIA) on Wednesday, June 2, to create two beautiful art pieces of chalk art on the ramp by two Southwest gates. To view a blog post with photos of the event, visit: www.blogsouthwest.com.

"We're always looking for opportunities to plug into the passion points of the cities that we serve, and the Chalk Art Festival is such a unique and fun way to highlight Larimer Square and downtown Denver," said Southwest's Manager of Community Affairs and Grassroots Jane Mcatee. "We jumped at the chance to not only sponsor the Festival on Larimer Square, but also to bring the artists and their creativity to the airport to share with our Employees and our Customers."

"It's partners like Southwest Airlines that make the Denver Chalk Art Festival possible, and we couldn't be more appreciative," said Larimer Arts Association Director Radhika Mahanty Black. "As funding for art programs in schools and the community continues to erode, it makes promoting arts awareness and education in Denver that much more important."

Over a span of 48 hours, 200 professional, amateur, and student artists will paint 67,000 square feet of raw pavement into re-creations of masterpieces, modern art, and their own original pieces during the Eighth Annual Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Square. This two-day festival will transform four downtown city blocks right before art enthusiasts' eyes, only to be washed away over night. A festival which complements Colorado's outdoor spirit, Denver Chalk Art Festival will also feature wine, food, live music provided by the Denver Theatre District, and the Youth Challenge, where student artists will compete for art supplies for their respective school. The festival will take place on Saturday, June 5, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, June 6, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Larimer Square, downtown Denver. Larimer Square is located between Speer Blvd. and 15th Street, and 14th Street from Market to Lawrence. To learn more, visit: www.denverchalkart.org.

Southwest Airlines began service to Denver on January 3, 2006, with 13 daily nonstop departures to three destinations. The airline currently operates 129 nonstop daily nonstop flights from the Mile High City, making Denver the fastest growing city in the Company's history. By August 2010, Southwest will operate 144 daily flights daily nonstop flights to 42 destinations from Denver. To learn more about Southwest's dedication to Denver, visit www.southwest.com/denver.

About the Larimer Arts Association

The Larimer Arts Association was founded in 1996 as a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting arts awareness and education in Denver. Our mission is to promote, stimulate and encourage the cultural welfare of Denver through interactive cultural events and cooperative art programming for emerging artists. Our mission is becoming more and more important as funding for the arts has significantly eroded in our schools, communities and venues. This condition is coupled with the diminishing amount of charitable support of the arts in Denver, despite the proven positive outcomes of culture - entertainment, beauty, fulfillment, and a vehicle of healing for children and adults alike.

About Southwest Airlines

After nearly 39 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, now serving 69 cities in 35 states. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the One Report. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.

www.southwest.com

SOURCE Southwest Airlines