Local artist creates seasonal chalk art at the Horse Inn in Lancaster

Nate Rupp has been using his artistic gift to create seasonal chalk art at the Horse Inn in Lancaster for the past decade, transforming a wall initially used for beer specials into a canvas for his designs. “I started in 2014 as a bartender,” Rupp said. “Then there’s this chalk wall, which was just shot and beer specials, and I was just in charge of it. I was like, ‘Can I draw on here?'” he said.Since then, Rupp has created numerous pieces on the wall, sketching art for every season, including a Lancaster County covered bridge for this winter.”I like to try to stay local with stuff. I’ve done a lot of Lancaster scenes. Or just PA in general,” he said.Rupp spends hours researching and sometimes uses his own photography for inspiration. Rupp takes digital images and calculates the dimensions to create his artwork.”It’s doing a bunch of math on a calculator and be like, OK, it’s two inches on the iPad. I’m blowing it up by 6.5in or whatever,” he said.Depending on the detail of the piece, he can spend five or six hours just getting a rough sketch down. After around 30 hours of work, the wall transforms from a blank canvas to a masterpiece.”People think it’s like a painting. They think it’s, like, permanent. They don’t believe it’s chalk,” Rupp said.Despite the temporary nature of his work, Rupp finds it unique.”What makes it special is that it’s just temporary. If you come in and you see it like, it might be gone a month later or two months later, and it’ll be something new. But yeah, taking it away does hurt,” he said.Thousands of people may pass by or take a moment to appreciate his art, often capturing it in photos and tagging him.”Thousands of people may come and just pass by it, or they may sit here and look at it. For people to take a picture of it or tag me on it like, ‘Hey, this is awesome.’ You know, like it’s humbling and pretty cool,” Rupp said. His work remains on display at the Horse Inn until the next season brings a new creation.

LANCASTER, Pa. —

Nate Rupp has been using his artistic gift to create seasonal chalk art at the Horse Inn in Lancaster for the past decade, transforming a wall initially used for beer specials into a canvas for his designs.

“I started in 2014 as a bartender,” Rupp said. “Then there’s this chalk wall, which was just shot and beer specials, and I was just in charge of it. I was like, ‘Can I draw on here?'” he said.

Since then, Rupp has created numerous pieces on the wall, sketching art for every season, including a Lancaster County covered bridge for this winter.

“I like to try to stay local with stuff. I’ve done a lot of Lancaster scenes. Or just PA in general,” he said.

Rupp spends hours researching and sometimes uses his own photography for inspiration.

Rupp takes digital images and calculates the dimensions to create his artwork.

“It’s doing a bunch of math on a calculator and be like, OK, it’s two inches on the iPad. I’m blowing it up by 6.5in or whatever,” he said.

Depending on the detail of the piece, he can spend five or six hours just getting a rough sketch down. After around 30 hours of work, the wall transforms from a blank canvas to a masterpiece.

“People think it’s like a painting. They think it’s, like, permanent. They don’t believe it’s chalk,” Rupp said.

Despite the temporary nature of his work, Rupp finds it unique.

“What makes it special is that it’s just temporary. If you come in and you see it like, it might be gone a month later or two months later, and it’ll be something new. But yeah, taking it away does hurt,” he said.

Thousands of people may pass by or take a moment to appreciate his art, often capturing it in photos and tagging him.

“Thousands of people may come and just pass by it, or they may sit here and look at it. For people to take a picture of it or tag me on it like, ‘Hey, this is awesome.’ You know, like it’s humbling and pretty cool,” Rupp said.

His work remains on display at the Horse Inn until the next season brings a new creation.