The Market Street Group of artists, which was once operated in the La Jolla Village, is escaping the shadows of its Kettner Street studio on Feb. 11 to hold a 25th-anniversary celebration. The open house event is scheduled from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in Studio 247 of the gallery, located downtown at 2400 Kettner St. Cris Crisler, George Wahab, Margo Palmer and Ron Spelman — all of La Jolla — are among the 18 artists who belong to the group and will be showing their artwork at the event. The Market Street Group studio was housed in the Marketplace Building on Girard Avenue (the Vons shopping center) from 1998 to 2008, but moved downtown after losing its lease. “The story of the Market Street Group is a unique one and kept secret for a long time,” said Wahab, a longtime supporter and painter in the group. “It deserves to be uncovered and brought to the public’s attention.” The cooperative venture has been a haven for serious San Diego artists, some of whose works have been recognized internationally. It is also considered somewhat of an exclusive studio for its dues-paying practitioners. At the event, the group will honor internationally-renowned La Jolla artist Sebastian Capella by naming a scholarship after him. The scholarship will be awarded to one Athenaeum School of Art student, and emerging artists will be offered a limited number of free one-month studio privileges.      Capella is known by many as a “modern 17th-century master.” He was educated classically with lengthy and thorough academic training at the School of Fine Arts in Valencia, Spain. He resides in La Jolla and has taught oil painting classes for the last 30 years. Carol Prior, who serves as an “unofficial” public relations director, said the studio brings in live models three days a week so painters can improve in figure drawing, portraits or full-face paintings. Visitors are welcome to the studio by appointment only on Feb. 12. For more information, call (619) 702-2130, or visit www.marketstreetstudio.com.