A Florida mom has been taking to her sidewalk to spread some laughter and cheer amongst her community—and she has been doing it all with a few pieces of chalk.
Casey Drake is a former science teacher, a mother-of-two, and a sidewalk artist who has been brightening up the streets of Winter Park with humorous illustrations of Disney characters coping with social distancing.
One of her drawings depicts Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz reminding people that there is “no place like home” during the outbreaks; another sidewalk drawing features an amused Rapunzel boasting about her social distancing skills.
“Laughter is the best medicine,” Drake told WKMG in the interview below. “We could all use a little bit of humor right now, I think.”
Drake says she was inspired to start drawing the cartoons after she saw other social media stories and news reports of people writing chalk messages of hope for passerby during the COVID-19 outbreaks.
In addition to the artworks brightening up the sidewalks, Drake says that drawing has become a much-needed source of therapy and stress relief during the shutdowns.
Although Drake admits that her labor of love does not have the same social impact as other national volunteer efforts, she hopes that her drawings can at least bring some joy to her neighbors.
“We need a mental break every once and a while from this,” she told reporters. “I know some people are sewing masks and donating things so even though this isn’t as important as those things, it still has a role. If somebody can just smile as they’re walking down the street and for a second kind of break out of the sadness of the moment and the fear, I think that’s a win.”
To check out more of Casey Drake’s artwork, be sure and visit her Instagram page.