A preview of this year’s Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy

 Logan Broyles | Noticias del Centro

Soon art lovers and potential buyers will be invited to stroll the streets of one of San Diego’s most iconic neighborhoods and enjoy the works of the more than 300 artists that have submitted to this year’s Mission Federal ArtWalk, taking place April 27-28.

The art on display will primarily be from Southern California-based artists but there will certainly be a strong presence from the international art world as well, with submissions from artists from South America and even Europe.

“People have come to expect high quality art and we think it gets better every year,” said Sandi Cottrell, managing director of the Mission Federal ArtWalk. “We really work at the artist selection process to bring different and new artist, and the quality this year is going to be incredible. We have one artist coming from as far away as Sweden (Andreas Hessman) and a large contingent of artists from all over Mexico.”

A celebration of art in all forms, this year’s 29th annual festival will fill seventeen blocks of Little Italy, San Diego’s “hip and historic” Italian neighborhood, which is located just north of Downtown along the waterfront.

“We’re always really excited to single out featured artists that really represent a wide variety of mediums and styles,” Cottrell said. “Hannie Goldgewicht is notable for what she does, it’s a combination of ceramics and basketry woven together. She’s of Costa Rican descent and some of this relates back to artistry that’s done in her home country.”

Cottrell said that they’ve used the work of Los Angeles-based contemporary metal sculptor James Hill in their ArtWalk magazines and on all of their marketing posters for years.  Another ArtWalk staple is multimedia artist Richard Curtner.

“[He] creates all of his artwork out of printed words that he pulls from magazines and newspapers and uses those to outline very intricate scenes,” she said.

This year’s ArtWalk will also feature some up-and-coming young artists, including SDSU Fine Arts major and Business of Art Scholarship winner Jennifer Cerutti. The promising young painter will have her work on display at booth # 567.

“It’s called the Business of Art Scholarship, so while they’re learning how to make art at SDSU this program teaches them how to make a living as artists,” Cottrell said. “We partnered with the San Diego Visual Arts Network, who offers them mentoring on all the things that it really takes to be in business as an artist.”

“Along with that we’re also sponsoring another artist named Jo-el Tapia, who has been working with one of our sponsors, Cymer, in their digital arts lab to transfer photographs onto wood.”

Cottrell added that in addition to the opportunity to browse and shop for fabulous art there are also a lot of other components to the event. A new feature for 2013 is called Art Meets Design, a “virtual home” where people can get tips from interior designers on how they can design their homes and rooms around their artwork.

“When people come to the event they often say they might find a piece of art that they really love but they have trouble envisioning it in their own home,” she said.  Through Art Meets Design, Cottrell said attendees can see how art can bring a room together.

Another new event will be an interactive art encounter called, “Grown Up Finger-painting.” Participants will be shown how to use paint and their fingers directly on the canvass to create unique works of art that will make your inner kindergartener proud.

“It’s not finger painting as you think of as what you may have done as a kid,” Cottrell said. “There’s actually ways of creating very intricate shadings and portraiture. The artist that we’re working with on that, Gabriela Alvarez, has a really unique take on how to paint with your hands and she’s going to be teaching that to the guests and they’ll be able to take those home with them.”

In addition to art displays and workshops, this free outdoor festival will also include live music, dance performances and an entire section called KidsWalk, with 16 different art experiences devoted solely to fostering the creative spirit in budding young Picassos.

Cottrell said the KidsWalk area will follow a circus school theme with a central performance stage and tents surrounding it with 16 different art experiences all aimed at fostering a youngster’s inner artist.

A map can be found on the event website that shows all the parking lots in the area, and event organizers highly recommend people take the trolley which lets out right in the middle of Little Italy.

The Little Italy Association will also be offering a valet service at the corner of India and Juniper streets. For more information, visit Missionfederalartwalk.org.

Contributing writer Logan Broyles is the former managing editor of Pacific San Diego Magazine and editor-in-chief of Construction Digital magazine. He likes to write about music and news, and can be reached at [email protected].