ASU chalk scribe spreads encouragement


Lisa Johnson draws
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Those who enter Arizona State University's Tempe campus via the Lattie Coor Hall breezeway are often treated to messages drawn on the outdoor chalkboard, signs that are sometimes political, sometimes humorous, and often encouraging.

Those encouraging ones, the sweetly scrolled signs of uplifting sayings? Those come courtesy of ASU student Lisa Johnson.

Johnson — a natural doodler — has long walked that breezeway each day on her way to class, and eventually the black slate panels called to her. She started drawing encouraging sayings in the fall 2014 semester. She began signing them with her Instagram handle, lisalove137, about a year later.

“Chalk is my favorite medium of art, because it’s so ephemeral,” said Johnson, a speech and hearing senior from the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area.

She continues drawing because she feels it adds a sense of community. In time, the messages get smeared, then erased.

"I got what I wanted out of it," she said.