CraftSanity #97 05.24.09 Rob Bliss

Rob Bliss bills himself as a just a regular guy. But his ability to use Facebook to mobilize people of all ages to participate in urban experiments is nothing short of intriguing. I met Bliss, a Grand Rapids Community College student, at the Chalk Flood he hosted in April. My daughters and I were among thousands of people who gathered downtown to doodle on the sidewalk that Saturday afternoon and we had a blast. It was a real kick to see so many people ranging from kids to professional artists coloring the city streets. And we were all there because of Rob Bliss. He invited us and secured 30,000 pieces of free chalk. He announced his plan on Facebook and then waited to see who showed up.